Light-induced inhibition of the elongation of primary roots of Zea mays seedlings is dependent upon the perception of light by the root cap. Separate exposure of detached root caps and roots from which root caps have been removed (i.e. decapped roots) to white light or darkness has shown that the elongation of a dark-exposed root to which a light-exposed root cap is attached is inhibited significantly, whilst a light-exposed decapped root to which a dark-exposed root cap is attached is not inhibited. Thus the decapped root is not capable of perceiving the growth-inhibitory stimulus of white light and its rate of elongation is greater than that of light-exposed roots with root caps still intact. However, the capacity to perceive light and, therefore, to be inhibited by it, is restored to the decapped root approximately 5 h after removal of the root cap.Abscisic acid and two unidentified growth-inhibiting compounds are present in the root caps of light-grown but not of dark-grown Zea mays seedlings and a period of 2.5-3.0 h is required for transport of the compounds, in levels effective in growth inhibition, from the root cap into the apex of the root.

Investigations into the relationship between the light-induced inhibition of root elongation and the response of Zea mays primary roots to gravity have revealed a close similarity between growth-inhibiting factor(s) produced in response to both stimuli. Evidence is presented that the inhibiting factor(s) produced in the root cap on exposure to white light can be used by the root to produce curvature in response to gravitational stimulation in darkness, i.e. under conditions in which dark exposed roots do not normally respond to gravity.The implications of these findings on the way in which roots respond to geotropic stimulation are discussed.

Exogeneous application of abscisic acid (ABA) to intact roots of LG 11 maize seedlings inhibits root elongation and induces bending of the root in response to gravity in darkness, even though the roots of these seedlings are not normally positively geotropic in the dark. ABA cannot, however, induce geotropic curvature in dark-exposed decapped roots, thus confirming that the root cap is the site of graviperception in the intact root.