Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Light Acquisition

Light 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.

Morphogenesis

Morphogenesis

Plant morphogenesis—the development of a plant’s form and structure—involves several overlapping developmental processes, including growth and cell differentiation. Precursor cells differentiate into specific cell types, which are organized into the tissues and organ systems that make up the functional plant.

Primary and Secondary Growth in Roots and Shoots

Primary 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.

Seedless Vascular Plants

Seedless Vascular Plants

Seedless Vascular Plants Were the First Tall Plants on Earth

Introduction to Plant Diversity

Introduction to Plant Diversity

From Water to Land

Multipotency and Niche of Bulge Stem Cell

Multipotency and Niche of Bulge Stem Cell

A hair follicle or HF is a small part of the skin that produces the hair shaft. Paul Gerson Unna was the first to observe a bulge in the human hair follicle's outer root sheath (ORS). The bulge is present between the sebaceous gland and the arrector pili muscle and is the niche for hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs). The bulge is also a niche for melanocyte stem cells, and their loss results in graying of hair. The HFSCs express Sox9 and Lhx2, which help them maintain stemness and prevent...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Reticulate leaf venation in Pilea peperomioides is a Voronoi diagram.

Nature communications·2026

Same author

Growth history leaves a geometric trace in puzzle cells.

EMBO reports·2026

Same author

Miltos Tsiantis.

Current biology : CB·2026

Same author

Evolution of repressive sequences within an enhancer contributed to morphological diversity in crucifer plants.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025

Same author

A suppressor screen of an Arabidopsis thaliana REDUCED COMPLEXITY (RCO)-expressing strain provides insight into the genetics of leaf margin complexity.

The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology·2025

Same author

Pillars of theoretical biology: 'Mathematical models for cellular interaction in development, I and II'.

Journal of theoretical biology·2025

Same journal

Drought and salinity stress remodel Asian rice (Oryza sativa) leaf development through cell-type-specific regulatory programs.

The New phytologist·2026

Same journal

Changes in photosynthesis and grazing facilitate growth of a mixotrophic protist under ocean acidification and warming.

The New phytologist·2026

Same journal

Opening the black box: in situ imaging of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal structures in soil using synchrotron-based micro-CT.

The New phytologist·2026

Same journal

From knowledge graph to topological data analysis: a novel framework to analyze gene regulatory networks for tomato-multi-pathogen interactions.

The New phytologist·2026

Same journal

The signaling mechanism of phyA involves direct interaction with ATG8 to regulate HY5 autophagic degradation under nutrient starvation.

The New phytologist·2026

Same journal

Stable lineages, rewired landscapes: single-cell and spatial multi-omics reveal developmental plasticity under abiotic stress.

The New phytologist·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 7, 2026

LeafJ: An ImageJ Plugin for Semi-automated Leaf Shape Measurement

LeafJ: An ImageJ Plugin for Semi-automated Leaf Shape Measurement

Published on: January 21, 2013

A common developmental program can produce diverse leaf shapes.

Adam Runions^1,2, Miltos Tsiantis², Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz¹

¹University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada.

The New Phytologist

|March 2, 2017

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Computational models reveal how minor variations in a common plant development program create diverse eudicot leaf shapes, from simple to compound. This developmental plasticity explains the wide range of leaf morphology observed in nature.

Keywords:

Hofmeister's rule PIN convergence point blastozone computational model directional growth leaf development shape diversity vascular system

More Related Videos

Author Spotlight: Leaf Trait Analysis for Climate and Ecology Reconstruction in Modern and Ancient Plant Communities

Author Spotlight: Leaf Trait Analysis for Climate and Ecology Reconstruction in Modern and Ancient Plant Communities

Published on: October 25, 2024

Author Spotlight: Improved Methods for Preparing Transverse Sections and Unrolled Whole Mounts of Maize Leaf Primordia for Fluorescence and Confocal Imaging

Author Spotlight: Improved Methods for Preparing Transverse Sections and Unrolled Whole Mounts of Maize Leaf Primordia for Fluorescence and Confocal Imaging

Published on: September 22, 2023

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 7, 2026

LeafJ: An ImageJ Plugin for Semi-automated Leaf Shape Measurement

LeafJ: An ImageJ Plugin for Semi-automated Leaf Shape Measurement

Published on: January 21, 2013

Author Spotlight: Leaf Trait Analysis for Climate and Ecology Reconstruction in Modern and Ancient Plant Communities

Author Spotlight: Leaf Trait Analysis for Climate and Ecology Reconstruction in Modern and Ancient Plant Communities

Published on: October 25, 2024

Author Spotlight: Improved Methods for Preparing Transverse Sections and Unrolled Whole Mounts of Maize Leaf Primordia for Fluorescence and Confocal Imaging

Author Spotlight: Improved Methods for Preparing Transverse Sections and Unrolled Whole Mounts of Maize Leaf Primordia for Fluorescence and Confocal Imaging

Published on: September 22, 2023

Area of Science:

Plant developmental biology
Computational modeling
Evolutionary morphology

Background:

Eudicot leaves exhibit remarkable morphological diversity.
The developmental mechanisms underlying this diversity remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the developmental origins of diverse eudicot leaf shapes.
To propose a computational model explaining leaf shape variation.

Main Methods:

Developed a computational model generalizing conserved molecular programs in *Arabidopsis thaliana*, *Cardamine hirsuta*, and *Solanum lycopersicum*.
Modeled leaf development as three integrated processes: margin patterning, vascular system patterning, and blade growth influenced by veins.

Main Results:

Demonstrated that small parameter variations in the model generate diverse leaf shapes, including simple, lobed, and compound forms.
Identified the significant morphogenetic role of leaf veins as local growth determinants.

Conclusions:

Proposes that diverse eudicot leaf shapes arise from subtle variations in a shared developmental program.
Highlights the interplay between genetic programs and growth dynamics in shaping plant morphology.