Bamboo is the world’s fastest growing plant thanks to the cell elongation process it shares with all grasses and its unique cell wall layering adaptation, allowing it to shoot up to 100 ft (30m) in just 8 weeks.
Thanks also to our Patreon patrons https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth and our YouTube members.
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To learn more, start your googling with these keywords:
Rhizome: a continuously growing horizontal underground stem which puts out lateral shoots and roots at intervals
Vacuole: an organelle within the cytoplasm of a cell, enclosed by a membrane and typically containing fluid, whose main purpose in plants is to maintain pressure against the cell wall
Microfibrils: fiber-like strands consisting of glycoproteins and cellulose that make up the cell wall structure
Auxin: a plant hormone which causes the elongation of cells in shoots and is involved in regulating plant growth
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If you liked this week’s video, you might also like:
Fastest growing plant record – https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/fastest-growing-plant
Grass: An Introduction – https://lizzieharper.co.uk/2018/06/grass-an-introduction/
Bamboo Shoot Timelapse – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Pgqf0rTbY
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Credits (and Twitter handles):
Video Narrator, Script Writer, and Co-Director: Julián Gustavo Gómez (@thejuliangomez)
Script Editor: David Goldenberg (@dgoldenberg)
Video Illustrator and Co-Director: Ever Salazar (@eversalazar)
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Kate Yoshida, Peter Reich, Sarah Berman, Arcadi Garcia Rius
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder
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References:
Velasquez, Silvia Melina, et al. “Auxin and cellular elongation.” Plant Physiology 170.3 (2016): 1206-1215.
Nonami, Hiroshi. “Plant water relations and control of cell elongation at low water potentials.” Journal of Plant Research 111.3 (1998): 373-382.
Wei, Qiang, et al. “Cellular and molecular characterizations of a slow-growth variant provide insights into the fast growth of bamboo.” Tree physiology 38.4 (2018): 641-654.
Li, Long, et al. “The association of hormone signalling genes, transcription and changes in shoot anatomy during moso bamboo growth.” Plant biotechnology journal 16.1 (2018): 72-85.
Gritsch, Cristina Sanchis, Gunnar Kleist, and Richard J. Murphy. “Developmental changes in cell wall structure of phloem fibres of the bamboo Dendrocalamus asper.” Annals of Botany 94.4 (2004): 497-505.
Gamuyao, Rico, et al. “Hormone distribution and transcriptome profiles in bamboo shoots provide insights on bamboo stem emergence and growth.” Plant and Cell Physiology 58.4 (2017): 702-716.
Wysocki, William P., et al. “Evolution of the bamboos (Bambusoideae; Poaceae): a full plastome phylogenomic analysis.” BMC evolutionary biology 15.1 (2015): 50.
Cosgrove, Daniel J. “Catalysts of plant cell wall loosening.” F1000Research 5 (2016).
Lodish, Harvey, et al. “Molecular cell biology 4th edition.” National Center for Biotechnology Information, Bookshelf (2000).
Perrot-Rechenmann, Catherine. “Cellular responses to auxin: division versus expansion.” Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology 2.5 (2010): a001446.
Gritsch, Cristina Sanchis, and Richard J. Murphy. “Ultrastructure of fibre and parenchyma cell walls during early stages of culm development in Dendrocalamus asper.” Annals of botany 95.4 (2005): 619-629.
Lybeer, Bieke, et al. “Lignification and cell wall thickening in nodes of Phyllostachys viridiglaucescens and Phyllostachys nigra.” Annals of botany 97.4 (2006): 529-539.
Tsuyama, Taku, et al. “Lignification in developing culms of bamboo Sinobambusa tootsik.” Journal of Wood Science 63.6 (2017): 551-559.
Gibert, Anaïs, et al. “On the link between functional traits and growth rate: meta‐analysis shows effects change with plant size, as predicted.” Journal of Ecology 104.5 (2016): 1488-1503.