The Shoot Apical Meristem Its Growth and Development

The shoot apex, although tiny and enclosed in the apical bud, forms the whole of the shoot system of plants as well as having a key role in producing leaves and flowers, so an appreciation of how it functions is essential to an understanding of plant growth. In this book the questions of how it grows, and how fast, and the likely cellular processes that are involved in the formation of leaves and flowers are examined at the biochemical, physiological, biophysical, and molecular and genetic levels, in order to try to explain how the shoot apex works. Graduate students and researchers in plant development will be interested in this book, which is the only one currently available that is wholly devoted to the growth and physiology of the shoot apex and its key role in the formation of leaves and flowers.