Correlation Between Growth and Development

Abstract

Independece of growth and development is one of the fundamental postulates of Lysenko's theory of phasic development¹. Evidence has, however, accumulated to demonstrate that under optimum conditions of nutrition the rate and the magnitude of the different components of growth are influenced by the developmental process of a plant. It has been shown, for example, that "obligatory minimal growth" must precede flower formation^2,3,4. The same workers have also shown that the carbon–nitrogen ratio is not the causal factor for the onset of flowering even under diverse nitrogen supply. Purvis³ observed in the case of winter and summer rye that "stem growth is in some way correlated with flowering". Kuleshov⁵ has worked out correlations between number of leaves, height, and duration of the vegetative phase from a world collection of maize varieties. In the case of soybeans a close physiological connexion and correlation exist between the phenomena of growth and development⁶. Direct correlations also exist between the length of different phases and certain plant characteristics and processes, such as winter hardiness, drought resistance, enzymic complex, assimilatory rate, and others^1,7,8,9.