All of the cells in a particular plant start out with thesame complement of genes. How the

All of the cells in a particular plant start out with the

same complement of genes. How then can these cells

differentiate and form. structures as different as roots,

stems, leaves, and fruits？ The answer is that only a

(5) small subset of the genes in a particular kind of cell are

expressed, or turned on, at a given time. This is accom-

plished by a complex system of chemical messengers

that in plants include hormones and other regulatory

molecules. Five major hormones have been identified:

(10) auxin, abscisic acid, cytokinin, ethylene, and gibberel-

lin. Studies of plants have now identified a new class of

regulatory molecules called oligosaccharins.

Unlike the oligosaccharins, the five well-known plant

hormones are pleiotropic rather than specific, that is,

(15) each has more than one effect on the growth and devel-

opment of plants. The five has so many simultaneous

effects that they are not very useful in artificially

controlling the growth of crops. Auxin, for instance,

stimulates the rate of cell elongation, causes shoots to

(20) grow up and roots to grow down, and inhibits the

growth of lateral shoots. Auxin also causes the plant to

develop a vascular system, to form. lateral roots, and to

produce ethylene.

The pleiotropy of the five well-studied plant

(25) hormones is somewhat analogous to that of certain

hormones in animal. For example, hormones from the

hypothalamus in the brain stimulate the anterior lobe

of the pituitary gland to synthesize and release many

different hormones, one of which stimulates the release

(30) of hormones from the adrenal cortex. These hormones

have specific effects on target organs all over the body.

One hormone stimulates the thyroid gland, for

example, another the ovarian follicle cells, and so forth.

In other words, there is a hierarchy of hormones.

(35) Such a hierarchy may also exist in plants. Oligosac-

charins are fragments of the cell wall released by

enzymes: different enzymes release different oligosac-

charins. There are indications that pleiotropic plant

hormones may actually function by activating the

(40) enzymes that release these other, more specific chemical

messengers from the cell wall.

According to the passage, the five well-known plant hormones are not useful in controlling the growth of crops because______

A．it is not known exactly what functions the hormones perform

B．each hormone has various effects on plants

C．none of the hormones can function without the others

D．each hormone has different effects on different kinds of plants

E．each hormone works on only a small subset of a cell’s genes at any particular time