Plant biology - Retrospect and prospect

Over the last century, plant biology has made remarkable progress, reflected in its greatly improved journals and textbooks. This article summarizes some historically important developments in the study of plant photoreceptors, especially the redabsorbing phytochromes and blue-absorbing flavoproteins, in phytohormones, in cell and tissue culture and in circadian rhythms. Attention is drawn to the neglect of polyamines, especially in relation to stress. Some effects of altered patterns of research support are noted, and a few future research trends are suggested as probable; these include increased use of molecular genetic techniques and increased attention to agricultural, ecological and ethical problems. TAKING the pulse of experimental plant biology at the turn of the millennium and noting some of the changes over recent time is a daunting challenge, undertaken here with trepidation. Since one obviously cannot cover all subjects, what follows must represent a subjective and highly personal selection. It is limited to the 20th century, into which I was born almost eighty years ago , at about the time of the formation of the American S ociety of Plant Physiologists. My birth also virtually c oincided with Garner and Allard’s landmark article on photoperiodism 1 , and occurred just a few years before Frits Went’s discovery of auxin 2 ushered in the era of phytohormones. Since my own research involved these two areas, I will dwell on some historical developments in both.