Photoperiodism:
The plants in order to flower require a certain day length i.e.the relative length of a day & night which is
called as photoperiod.the response of plants to the photoperiod expressed in the form of flowering is
called as photoperiodism.
The phenomenon was of photoperiodism was frist discovered by Garner & Allard [1920,22] who
observed that the biloni variety of soyabeans (Glysine max) & variety of tobacco could be made to
flower only when the daily exposoure to the light was reduced below a certain critical duration & after
many complex experiments concluded that ,the relative length of the day is a factor of the frist
importance in the growth & development of plants.
On the basis of the length of photoperiod requirements they have classified plants into 3 types:
1.short day plants
2.long day plants
3.day newtral plants
Short Day Plants
Require day light (8-10 h)& night (14-16h) for subsequent flowering .
A short-day plant, also known as a long-night plant or a short-night plant, is a type of plant that requires
a specific period of darkness (usually longer than a critical threshold) to initiate flowering or other
physiological processes. These plants are sensitive to the duration of uninterrupted darkness rather
than the amount of light received during the day.
Short-day plants typically require a period of uninterrupted darkness that exceeds a certain critical
length, often around 12 to 14 hours, to induce flowering. If they are exposed to light during this critical
dark period, the process of flowering is delayed or inhibited.
The sensitivity to darkness allows short-day plants to sense changes in day length and adjust their
growth and reproductive patterns accordingly. They are typically found in regions where the length of
daylight decreases as the seasons change, such as in temperate or higher latitudes.
Short day facultative plants: Cotton (Gossypium), Soybeans (Glycine max), Rice (Oryza)
Long Day Plants
Require day light (14-16h) & night (8-10h ) for subsequent flowering .
Examples of Long-day plants are spinach lettuce, radish, alfalfa, sugar beet, poppy, larkspur, oats. Long-day
plants require photoperiod of more than a critical length. which may vary from 14 to 18 hours. The best
flowering of long day plants usually occurs in continuous light. For flowers they require either no dark
period or a very short dark period. A flash of light given to long day plants during long dark periods can
induce flowering in them even during short-day periods. Here, darkness has an inhibitory effect on
flowering.ex: Beta vulgaris (beet), Barley (Hordeum vulgare)
Day neutral Plants
A day-neutral plant, also known as a "photoperiod-insensitive" plant, is a type of plant that is not dependent on the
length of daylight to initiate flowering. Unlike other plants, which require specific day lengths (either short or long)
to trigger flowering, day-neutral plants can flower regardless of the day length.
Their flowering is not affected by the length of the day. they can flower even if the light period provided is form few
hours to continuous illumination.
1. Long Short Day Plants
They are mainly short day plants but requires long day light for initial growth & subsequent
flowering. Bryophyllum
Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium)
Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)
Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera spp.)
Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana)
Strawberry (Fragaria spp.)
2. short long day plant
They are mainly long day plants but requires short day light for initial growth & subsequent
flowering.
Spinach (Spinacia oleracea)
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)
Radish (Raphanus sativus)
Photoperiodic induction
The condition in which suitable day & night length persist in the plant & leads to the flowering under unsuitable
conditions in called photoperiodic induction .
Importance of Dark Period
For quite sometime the role of light period (photoperiod) was emphasised in flowering? However,
based on certain experiments it was realised that it is the dark period that is more important than the
light period for inducing a plant to flower. In fact, as early as 1912, from his experiments on flowering,
Julien Tournois concluded that flowering occurred "not so much by shortening of day as by lengthening
of nights". We describe below an experiment, which was done much later by Hamner and Bonner
(1936) that proved this point. A short-day plant was taken that required 16 hours of darkness and 8
hours of light to flower. If the dark period was reduced, plants did not flower. Interestingly, if the dark
period of 16 hours was interrupted by light, again there was no flowering. However, if the light period
was interrupted by dark period, or if plant8 were kept less than 8 hours in light there was no effect on
flowering. It was clear that altering the light period had no effect but if the dark period was less than 16
hours, the plants would not flower. A look at Figure will further clarify this experiment and confirm that
dark period is more important for inducing plants to flower. This concept has now been well
established. The role of dark period is to bring about some changes which trigger the development
from the vegetative to the flowering state. The role of light period is to realise this change and help in
bringing about maximum flowering.
Figure: Experiments to show that dark period is important for flowering. If dark period is
interrupted (3) SDP do not flower but if light period is interrupted (4) or shortened (5) there is no
effect on flowering in LDP
Perception of Photoperiodic Stimulus and Presence of a Floral Hormone
the process During of flowering, the photoperiodic stimulus is perceived by the leaves of the plants
& as a result a Floral hormone is produced in the leaves which are then translocated to the apical
tip.
Floral hormone is responsible for inducing floweringin plants. Plustoperiodism site of
perception are leaves.
It is now well established that the photoperiodic stimulus is perceived by the leaves. As a
result, a floral hormone is produced in the leaves which are then translocated to the apical
tip, subsequently causing the initiation of floral primordial.
That the photoperiodic stimulus is perceived by the leaves can be shown by simple
experiments on cocklebur (Xanthium pennsylvanicum), a short day plant. Cocklebur plant
will flower if it has previously been kept under short-day conditions. If the plant is
defoliated and then kept under short day condition, it will not flower. Flowering will also
occur even if all the leaves of the plant except one leaf have been removed.
If a cocklebur plant whether intact or defoliated, is kept under long day conditions it will not
flower. But, if even one of its leaves is exposed to short day condition and the rest are under
long day photoperiods, flowering will occur.
The photoperiodic stimulus can be transmitted from one branch of the plant to another
branch. For example, if in a two branched cocklebur plant one branch is exposed to short
day and other to long day photo period, flowering occurs on both the branches. Flowering
also occurs if one branch is kept under long day conditions and other branch from which all
the leaves except one have been removed is exposed to short day condition. However, if one
branch is exposed to long photoperiod and the other has been removed is exposed to short
day condition. However, if one branch is exposed to long photoperiod and the other has
been defoliated under short day condition, flowering will not occur in any of the branches.
transmission of stimulus
Photoperiodic stimulation or photoperiodism is defined as the response by an organism to the lengths
of day and night. Leaves are considered to be the site of perception for photoperiodic stimulation.
Now, it has been observed that a lot of plants need periodic exposure to light to induce flowering. It is
the shoot apices of plants that modify themselves to flowering apices just before flowering. But these
shoot apices do not perceive photoperiod by themselves . It is believed that a hormone is responsible
for inducing flowering in plants, which is transported from the leaves to the shoot apices once the
plant is exposed to adequate inductive photoperiod.
Presence of floral hormone
1. Florigen, or flowering hormone, is thought to be a protein insulin particle that controls or
enhances the flower initiation process in plants.
2. These florigens are made in the leaf and are found in the bud's stem and root apical meristems
and growing tips.
3. In the other words, they are believed to be involved in the apical meristems' system-wide
boosting of flowering and growth amplification in other vegetative meristematic.
Role of phytochrome pigments in flowering
Phytochrome pigments: Phytochrome is a kind of pigment. This pigment can ‘possibly’ be
extracted from different plants.
Phytochrome is a kind of protein based on Phytochrore prosthetic group. Phytochrome
pigments absorb red and far-
red light but it absorbs a minute
amount of blue light. It occurs
in two different forms one is
phytochrome P660, which
absorbs 660mμ light. Either of
these two forms can be
converted to the other.
First one is far-red (Pfr) form
which absorbs red light
Second one is red (Pr) form
which absorbs far red light
