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AOBPreview originally published online on January 11, 2007
Annals of Botany 2007 99(3):487-493; doi:10.1093/aob/mcl270
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Stem-righting Mechanism in Gymnosperm Trees Deduced from Limitations in Compression Wood Development

Saori Yamashita, Masato Yoshida*, Shozo Takayama and Takashi Okuyama

Laboratory of Bio-material Physics, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan

* For correspondence. E-mail yoshida{at}agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Received: 22 August 2006    Returned for revision: 3 October 2006    Accepted: 6 November 2006    Published electronically: 11 January 2007

Background and Aims: In response to inclination stimuli, gymnosperm trees undergo corrective growth during which compression wood develops on the lower side of the inclined stem. High compressive growth stress is generated in the compression wood region and is an important factor in righting the stem. The aims of the study were to elucidate how the generation of compressive growth stress in the compression wood region is involved in the righting response and thus to determine a righting mechanism for tree saplings.

Methods: Cryptomeria japonica saplings were grown at inclinations of 0° (vertical) to 50°. At each inclination angle, the growth stress on the lower side of the inclined stem was investigated, together with the degree of compression-wood development such as the width of the current growth layer and lignin content, and the upward bending moment.

Key Results: Growth stress, the degree of compression wood development, and the upward moment grew as the stem inclination angle increased from 0 to 30°, but did not rise further at inclinations > 30°.

Conclusions: The results suggest the following righting mechanism for gymnosperm saplings. As the stem inclination is elevated from 0 to 30°, the degree of compression wood development increases to force the sapling back to its original orientation; at inclinations > 30°, the maximum degree of compression wood is formed and additional time is needed for the stem to reorient itself.

Key words: Artificial inclination, compression wood, compressive growth stress, Cryptomeria japonica, reaction wood, reorientation


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