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03:02Primary and Secondary Growth in Roots and Shoots
Vascular plants, which account for over 90% of the Earth’s vegetation, all undergo primary growth—which lengthens roots and shoots. Many land plants, notably woody plants, also undergo secondary growth—which thickens roots and shoots.
02:16Light Acquisition
In order to produce glucose, plants need to capture sufficient light energy. Many modern plants have evolved leaves specialized for light acquisition. Leaves can be only millimeters in width or tens of meters wide, depending on the environment. Due to competition for sunlight, evolution has driven the evolution of increasingly larger leaves and taller plants, to avoid shading by their neighbors with contaminant elaboration of root architecture and mechanisms to transport water and nutrients.
02:36Meristems and Plant Growth
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02:27Basic Plant Anatomy: Roots, Stems, and Leaves
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02:26Non-vascular Seedless Plants
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Related Experiment Video
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06:11
Improved Methods for Preparing Transverse Sections and Unrolled Whole Mounts of Maize Leaf Primordia for Fluorescence and Confocal Imaging
Published on: September 22, 2023
A new development: evolving concepts in leaf ontogeny.
Brad T Townsley1, Neelima R Sinha
1Department of Plant Biology, University of California-Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Annual Review of Plant Biology
|March 13, 2012
Summary
Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) controlling leaf development show significant plasticity across species. While direct mapping is difficult, conserved modules offer insights into evolutionary themes in plant development.
Area of Science:
- Plant biology
- Developmental genetics
- Evolutionary biology
Background:
- Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) orchestrate complex biological processes like leaf development.
- Previous studies have mapped GRNs in various model plant species.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review leaf development through the lens of evolutionary developmental systems.
- To understand the plasticity and universality of GRNs in leaf development across species.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of GRN architectures across different model species.
- Literature review focusing on evolutionary perspectives of developmental systems.
Main Results:
- Leaf development GRNs exhibit significant plasticity, meaning they differ considerably between species.
- Despite differences, many GRN modules appear conserved and potentially universal across species.
- Direct extrapolation of GRN findings between species requires caution.
Conclusions:
- Understanding leaf development requires considering evolutionary divergence and conservation of GRNs.
- Future research should carefully compare GRN themes across species to reveal evolutionary principles.
- Plasticity and universality of GRNs offer a rich area for studying plant evolution.