Plant Physiology - Musienko M. M. 2001

Introduction
Main periods in the development of plant physiology

The Current state of plant physiology is the result of a long developmental path traversed by this science over more than 200 years of its existence. It originated in the 17th and 18th centuries within the bosom of botany. The scientific approach to plant physiology was initiated by Jan Baptist van Helmont (1579–1644), who conducted the first quantitative vegetation experiment to study plant Nutrition pathways. Based on his experiments, he erroneously concluded that Water was the sole nutrient medium for plants. It was only later that the vital role of soil and air as sources of plant nutrition was established. It is no exaggeration to state that plant physiology began its existence as an independent branch of Botany as the science of nutrition.

One of the founders of microscopic plant anatomy, M. Malpighi (1628–1694), combined his anatomical discoveries of certain microstructures with their Functions, which was of great significance for the future of plant physiology.

In 1727, the English botanist and chemist S. Hales suggested in his book Vegetable Staticks that plants might derive nourishment from the air via their leaves. He should undoubtedly be regarded as one of the founders of plant physiology—a science that took shape much later, when J. Priestley, J. Ingenhousz, and J. Senebier between 1771 and 1782 identified the components responsible for the aerial nutrition of plants. Later, N. de Saussure (1767–1845), through precise chemical analysis, demonstrated the involvement of water in aerial nutrition. Thus, METABOLISM/2.html">THE CONCEPT OF the photosynthetic function of plants gradually emerged, although the term "Photosynthesis" itself was proposed by W. Pfeffer only in 1877. Following the discovery of photosynthesis, as well as the laws of conservation of matter and energy, plant physiology increasingly focused on the aerial environment and sunlight as the primary material and energetic sources for the existence of green plants.

However, plant physiology finally separated from botany as an independent branch of science in 1800, when J. Senebier (1742–1803) introduced the term "plant physiology" and wrote the first textbook on this discipline, outlining The Essence of the subject, its Methods, and its tasks. In tsarist Russia, plant physiology was slow to emerge as an independent discipline, and it was only with the new university statute of 1863 that departments of plant physiology were established. S.O. Rachinsky (1833–1902), a professor of plant physiology at Moscow University—where K.A. Timiryazev (1843–1920) launched his extensive activities in 1872—should be considered the first Russian botanist-physiologist. At St. Petersburg University, the plant physiology course was taught by Prof. A.S. Famintsyn (1835–1918) starting in 1861. In its initial stage, plant physiology was largely a university science. The first Russian textbook on plant physiology was written in 1887 by Prof. A.S. Famintsyn, and in 1891 it was succeeded by V.I. Palladin's textbook, which went through nine editions.

Significant contributions to The Development of various areas of plant physiology in the 19th century were made by J. Boussingault, A.S. Famintsyn, K.A. Timiryazev, M.S. Tsvet (photosynthesis), I.P. Borodin, A.M. Bakh, G. Bertrand, V.I. Palladin, L. Pasteur (Respiration), H. Dutrochet, H. de Vries, J. Sachs (water relations), J. Liebig, 13

H. Hellriegel, J. Knop, S.N. Vinogradsky, M. Beijerinck, D.N. Pryanishnikov (mineral nutrition), J.V. Baranetzky, G. Vöchting, G. Klebs (Plant GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT), and others.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the differentiation of plant physiology into its main subdisciplines was complete, with some of them acquiring such great importance that within the first decades they transformed into independent disciplines with their own theoretical foundations and wide Structure/179.html">Practical Applications: virology in 1902, agrochemistry in 1910, and microbiology and biochemistry in 1930.

Significant success was achieved during this period in unraveling the Biochemical Mechanisms of respiration (V.I. Palladin, H. Wieland, S.P. Kostychev, O. Warburg, D. Keilin, T. Thunberg, H. Krebs, A. Kornberg), photosynthesis (R. Willstätter, C. van Niel, R. Hill, M. Calvin, D. Arnon), the investigation of endogenous growth regulators (N.G. Kholodny, F. Went, F. Kögl, E. Kurosawa, T. Yabuta, F. Skoog), The Study of plant stress resistance mechanisms (N.A. Maximov), and mineral nutrition (D.A. Sabinin).

In 1934, the Institute of Plant PHYSIOLOGY OF THE USSR Academy of Sciences was established, coordinating all research in this field, where A.L. Kursanov, A.A. Nichiporovich, M.Kh. Chailakhyan, P.A. Genkel, I.I. Tumanov, and others worked fruitfully.

However, from the 1930s to the 1950s, a difficult period for the development of plant physiology began, as emphasized by A.L. Kursanov (1982), primarily due to its Separation from biochemistry. During this period, the development of plant physiology was directed not so much toward solving its own fundamental problems as toward applied physiological research.

At this turning point, when plant physiology worldwide rose to a new level in the mid-1950s, Academician A.L. Kursanov became the successor and bearer of these glorious traditions. He essentially charted a new course for the development of plant physiology by founding the renowned Kursanov school (A.T. Mokronosov, O.M. Kulaeva, R.G. Butenko, V.Yu. Semenenko, D.B. Vakhmistrov, B.B. Vartapetyan, Yu.G. Molotkovsky, A.T. Vereshchagin, I.A. Tarchevsky, R.K. Salyaev, G.O. Sanadze, V.V. Polevoy), among others.

New vectors of scientific inquiry emerged: oxygen metabolism and Oxygen transport (B.B. Vartapetyan), Cytokinins and their role in Metabolic Regulation (O.M. Kulaeva), donor-sink systems in plants (A.T. Mokronosov), the Organization of plant membranes (Yu.G. Molotkovsky, R.K. Salyaev), plant Cell ionic Homeostasis (D.B. Vakhmistrov), and plant Lipid Metabolism (A.T. Vereshchagin).

Intensive research is being conducted into the mechanisms of the regulatory action of phytohormones, including their reception and the Transduction of hormonal signals to the cellular genetic apparatus (O.M. Kulaeva, V.V. Polevoy), phytohormone metabolism and growth regulation (V.I. Kefeli), alongside the initiation of plant immunochemistry studies (O.D. Volodarsky).

During this time, interest in ecological physiology problems grew significantly. The classical concepts of stress resistance developed by N.A. Maximov, I.I. Tumanov, P.A. Genkel, and B.P. Stroganov were significantly deepened through new approaches and theoretical frameworks based on modern understandings of plant molecular biology and the subcellular organization of adaptive systems (V.M. Zholkevich, T.I. Trunova).

The period of relative self-isolation in plant physiology gave way to an era of modernization and integration with other sciences—a time when highly sensitive methods of biophysics, molecular biology, and cell biology were introduced into physiological experiments, a trend that continues today. The techniques of physiological experiments have evolved, and fundamental research is now driving the creation of fundamentally new plant biotechnologies. A new stage in the development of plant physiology has arrived, characterized by the assimilation and integration of achievements from other experimental biological sciences.