The relationship between profiles of plagiogravitropism and morphometry of columella cells during the development of lateral roots of Vigna angularis

There has been no convincing explanation on a mechanism inducing plagiogravitropism of lateral roots. The present work deals with gravitropic features of Vignaangularis lateral roots during the course of their growth and morphometric analysis of root caps, columella cells and amyloplasts. Regardless of the magnitude of deviation of the primary root axis from the gravity vector, the newly emerging lateral roots tended to keep a constant angle to the gravity vector. They modified gravireaction several times during the course of their development: a first horizontal-growth stage when they grow in the cortex of primary roots (stage I), a sloping-down growth stage from their emergence to a length of about 1 mm (stage II), a second horizontal-growth stage from a length of about 1 mm to that of over 4 mm (stage III) and a curving-down stage thereafter (stage IV). The columella cells with amyloplasts large enough to sediment were not fully differentiated in the stage I but the turning point from the stage I to II was associated with the development of amyloplasts which were able to sediment toward the distal part of the cell. Amyloplasts were significantly small in the lateral roots over 10 mm long compared with those in ones 0–10 mm long, suggesting that they rapidly develop immediately after the lateral roots emerge from primary roots and then gradually decrease their size when the lateral roots grow over 10 mm long. This dimensional decrease of amyloplasts may be partially involved in weak gravireaction in the stage III. Evidence was not presented indicating that a switchover from the stage III to IV was connected with the dimension of root caps, the number of columella cells and the development of amyloplasts. Some factors at the molecular level rather than at the cellular and tissue levels are probably dominant to induce the stage IV.