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Statoliths

In planning a new series of lectures related to botany for my introductory biology course this fall, I stumbled across a term I was unfamiliar with (I am not a botanist by any stretch of the imagination... all of my work has been with animals). The term is "statolith". Apparently, it is the name given to a specialized plant organelle that is used to help a plant detect sensation of the force of gravity. It is due to the statoliths in germinating seeds that the root will grow in the positively geotropic (or as a synonmy gravitropic) direction and the stem will grow in the negative geotropic direction.

For me, this term is especially interesting and relevant because I spend a sizable amount of time describing a similar term in mammals called the otoliths in my Anatomy & Physiology course. Otoliths are structures in the inner ear that allow us to sense gravity, body position and balance.

Very intriguing and interesting. I may end up taking some time today to play in the scientific literature data bases and see what sorts of research has been done with statoliths.

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