The positive geotropic responses of the primary roots of Zea mays and Pisum sativum seedlings depend upon at least one growth inhibiting factor which arises in the root cap and which moves basipetally through the apex into the extending zone. The root apex (as distinct from the cap) and the regions more basal to the extending zone are not sources of growth regulators directly involved in the geotropic response. A difference in the concentration or effectiveness of the inhibitory factor(s) arising in the cap must be established between the upper and lower halves of a horizontal root. Positive geotropic curvature in a horizontal root is attributable, at least in part, to a downward lateral transport of inhibitor(s) from the upper to the lower half of the organ.

Pentachloro[U-14C]phenol was administered orally to Charles River CD strain pregnant rats on day 15 of gestation. Concentrations found in the placentas and fetuses up to 32 hr remained very small indicating that the amount that passes through the placental barrier is negligible. Unlabeled compound was administered on days 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 of gestation. The incidence of resorptions in the treated animals was not significantly greater than that in the controls. Although malformations were observed, the number was minimal and could have been due to the toxic effects of the compound on the maternal rat.

SUMMARYForty isolates of the ergot fungus Claviceps purpurea collected from nineteen gramineous host species were used to inoculate male‐sterile wheat. The isolates segregated into highly and weakly infective groups. The marked pathogenicity, on wheat, of the fungal strains occurring on certain grass species has been correlated with distinctive patterns of alkaloids within the sclerotia.Analysis of the alkaloid content of 241 samples of naturally occurring ergot sclerotia from twenty gramineous host species has confirmed the existence of host restricted strains characterized also by their particular spectra of alkaloids.Similarity of the alkaloid spectra of ergot sclerotia from blackgrass (Alopecurus myosuroides) and wheat, ease of cross‐infection from blackgrass to wheat and an association between blackgrass infestation and the occurrence of ergot sclerotia in surveyed wheat crops have confirmed the hypothesis that the presence of this early flowering weed grass increases the risk of high levels of ergot infection in wheat.

Transport of indolyl-3-acetic acid (IAA) was studied during the phototropic responses of intact shoots and detached coleoptiles of Zea mays L. and Avena sativa L. The use of a high specific activity [5-(3)H]IAA and glass micropipettes enabled asymmetric application of the IAA to be made to individual coleoptiles with minimal tissue damage.A unilateral stimulus of 2.59×10(-11) einstein cm(-2) of blue light, probably in the dose range of the first positive phototropic response, caused significant net lateral movement of radioactivity from [5-(3)H]IAA away from the illuminated side of intact shoots and detached coleoptile apices of both Avena and Zea. The magnitude of the net lateral movement was 15.3% in Zea seedlings and 12.3% in Avena seedlings. Chromatographic analyses indicated that the movement of radioactivity reflected that of IAA. A phototropic stimulus of 1.24×10(-7) einstein cm(-2), which was probably in the second positive dose range, caused significant lateral movement of radioactivity in intact shoots and detached coleoptiles of Zea but not of Avena.In intact Zea seedlings, neither phototropic dosage affected the longitudinal transport of IAA. In intact Avena seedlings, first positive stimulation inhibited longitudinal transport only when the IAA was applied to the illuminated side of the coleoptile, but second positive stimulation inhibited basipetal movement of IAA regardless of the side of application.Exposing the intact seedlings to red light before phototropic stimulation abolished lateral transport after a first positive stimulus in Zea and in Avena.Phototropic stimulation can thus induce a lateral transport of IAA towards the shaded side of the coleoptiles of both Zea and Avena seedlings, and can affect longitudinal movement of IAA in the coleoptile of Avena. However, since phototropic curvature was observed under certain conditions in the absence of either of these effects, the extent to which they are involved in the induction of asymmetric growth in a stimulated coleoptile has yet to be resolved.