I’ve always tried to draw comparisons between plants and animals as there are more similarities than differences. Cytokines, for example. are primary messengers important in reducing neuroinflammation in animals. They activate a range of immune cells and promote the production of inflammatory mediators. For example, cytokines are being produced by bodies being attacked by the coronavirus.
In plants, cytokines and auxins are plant hormones impacting all parts of the plants growth, from flowering to fruit set and maturation, and from phototropism (a plants response to light) to leaf fall. The hormones can act in their cell of origin or be transported to other portions of the plant body, with many plant responses involving the synergistic or antagonistic interaction of the two hormones. In contrast, animal hormones are produced in specific glands, act alone and are transported to a distant site for action (i.e. reducing inflammation).
Seaweed products, in particular, allow the application of cytokinin- or auxin-dominant compounds. There’s much discussion about cytokinin’s and auxins conflicting with each other, but this would be better described as dualism, or how opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate.
The cross-talk between the two hormones generates plant reactions essential for overall plant health and growth. The hormones signal the plant to provide growth away from their place of origin – meaning cytokines have an impact on shoot growth and auxins impact root growth. Although it’s clear that young shoot organs are the major sites of auxin production, while root tips are major sites of cytokines production, the hormones move in specific structural pathways to regulate plant development and differentiation.
If either hormone is removed from the equation bad things start to happen, as the ratio of auxin to cytokinin plays an important role in the effect of cytokinin on plant growth. Cytokinin alone has no effect on living plant tissues. Conversely, when plant tissues or living plant cells are cultured with auxin but no cytokinin, they grow large but do not divide. When cytokinin is added, the cells expand and differentiate.
Cytokinins are like the fountain of youth in plants. They delay senescence or the natural aging process that leads to death in plants. In the cell cycle, cytokinins promote cell division and are essential to the performance attributes we expect of auxins. If the concentration of auxin and cytokinin are in the correct ratio then normal cell division will take place. If the concentration of auxin is greater than cytokinin then roots will form. If the concentration of auxin is less than cytokinin then shoots will form. It’s a complicated process that we can harness to achieve specific objectives.
Andaman Ag has a number of products from our seaweed extracts to our compost teas that carry both auxins and cytokinins into the plant for enhanced stem and root growth. We advocate the rotation of auxin and cytokine products to deliver the best results.
