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Science 19 January 1979:
Vol. 203. no. 4377, pp. 268 - 270
DOI: 10.1126/science.203.4377.268
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Articles

Phycomyces: Modification of Spiral Growth after Mechanical Conditioning of the Cell Wall

R. I. GAMOW 1 and B. BOTTGER 1

1 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309

Mature stage IVb Phycomyces sporangiophores show left-handed spiral growth; that is, viewed from above, the sporangium rotates clockwise. Mechanical conditioning of the cell wall by the Instron technique increases the ratio of the rotational to the elongational growth rate. This result is in agreement with the fibril reorientation model of spiral growth, which suggests that cell wall microfibrils, initially oriented in a nearly transverse right-handed direction in the upper region of the growing zone, are displaced during growth toward the longitudinal axis, causing the observed left-handed spiral growth.

Submitted on May 25, 1978
Revised on August 21, 1978

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)