cuticle reduction

[SUSAN FARMER]

<Text on cuticle reduction experiment deleted, because my stupid editor gets
<picky if I quote too much.  *sigh*

Actually, a plant physiology book may have the answers for you.  We learned
about Tropisms and Turgid responses in class today.  This sounds like you may
be dealing with a variant of thigmomorphogenesis.  [ from thigmo- touch, and
-morphogenesis the morphology of growing, basically].  If you take a bean plant
or several actually, and fondle them selectively (decreasing amounts) the 
fondled plants are more stunted proportionally than the non-fondled plants.
Dr. Holton said it didn't have to be just fondling, but persistant wind or
rain could do it to.  (An analogous thing with a Turgor response would be
the sensitive plant.  Blow on it and it folds).  The genes that control it
have been identified (I think), but he did not go into the mechanism by which
this was caused or anything.  That part is up to you.  *wicked grin*

Good luck.
Susan

-- 
Susan B. Farmer     farmer at cs.utk.edu     Lady Jerusha Kilgore     
I can't even find time to clean house and you want me to come up with a .sig?
     B.A. in Computer Science ... Graduate Student in Botany
		Talk to me about your Trillium species!