In fact supplying NAA induced
lateral root meristems, and in situ hybridization using
antisense NRmRNA probes showed that the nia gene was
highly expressed in these meristems (Vuylsteker et al.,
unpubl. res.). The aim of this work was to report on the time
course and pattern of lateral root initiation in excised roots
of chicory grown in the presence of auxins. In contrast to
other reports which show that auxins spread the reactivation
of the pericycle cells along the root (Blakely et al., 1982,
1988; Ferreira et al., 1994), we show that the auxinresponsive
area is restricted to the apical region in chicory
roots