We investigated the interaction of auxin and Ca2+ on coleoptile segment elongation in seedlings of Zea mays L. Seedlings imbibed and raised either in the presence of 10 mM CaCl2 (HC), or in the absence of Ca2+ (LC) were used. Exposure to 10-5M auxin of coleoptiles from either HC or LC seedlings resulted in strong promotion of elongation. However, longer latent period (90 min) of the auxin effect was observed in HC than in LC seedlings (20 min). The length of latent period observed in HC coleoptiles was proportional to the concentration of CaCl2. The latent period of auxin effect observed in HC seedlings was abolished by pretreatment of the coleoptiles with TMB-8 which inhibits IP3-induced Ca2+ release from the tonoplasts. In segments of LC seedlings, the promotive effect of IAA (10-5M) was abolished by treatment with 5 mM calcium but was reversible upon treatment of the segments with 5 mM EGTA. These results suggest that the effect of auxin on coleoptile elongation is closely related to intracellular Ca2+ level.