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This paper has no abstract; these are the first two paragraphs. The search for a molecular mechanism of auxin action has rendered the “Auxin-Binding-Protein 1” (ABP-1) the top candidate for a functional auxin receptor (Venis and Napier, 1995), although its status remains disputed (Jones, 1994; Hertel, 1995; Napier, 1995; Venis, 1995). ABP-1 had long been thought to be localized exclusively in epidermal cells in coleoptiles (Löbler and Klämbt, 1985), and thus had fitted nicely the “epidermal-growth-control-hypothesis” (Kutschera, 1987, 1992). The recent report from the same lab of its uniform distribution throughout the coleoptile (Kayser and Klämbt, 1995) not only rises …

In recent years the phenomenon of tissue tension and its functional connection to elongation growth has regained much interest. In the present study we reconstruct older models of mechanical inhomogenities in growing plant organs, in order to establish an accurate historical background for the current discussion. We focus on the iatromechanic model developed in Stephen Hales' Vegetable Staticks, Wilhelm Hofmeister's mechanical model of negative geotropism, Julius Sachs' explanation of the development of tissue tension, and the differential-auxin-response-hypothesis by Kenneth Thimann and Charles Schneider. Each of these models is considered in the context of its respective historic and theoretical environment. …