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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 1, 2025

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

Leaf Shape Diversity: From Genetic Modules to Computational Models.

Neha Bhatia¹, Adam Runions^1,2, Miltos Tsiantis¹

¹Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, 50829 Cologne, Germany;

Annual Review of Plant Biology

|June 18, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Plant leaf shape diversity arises from genetic control over cellular growth. This study explores how varying growth amount, duration, and direction shapes simple, complex, and carnivorous plant leaves.

Keywords:

computational modeling evo-devo homeobox genes leaf shape morphogenesis

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Experimental Design for Laser Microdissection RNA-Seq: Lessons from an Analysis of Maize Leaf Development

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Published on: March 5, 2017

Area of Science:

Plant biology
Developmental biology
Evolutionary biology

Background:

Leaf shape exhibits significant diversity across plant species.
Understanding the morphogenetic basis of this diversity is crucial for plant science.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the genetic control of cellular growth in shaping leaf form.
To differentiate the development of simple versus complex leaves and carnivorous traps.

Main Methods:

Live imaging techniques to observe cellular growth in real-time.
Computational frameworks to model the relationship between cellular growth and leaf shape.
Comparative analysis of leaf development in different plant types.

Main Results:

Genetic regulation of cellular growth amount, duration, and direction is key to leaf form.
Distinct morphogenetic pathways lead to simple leaves, complex leaves, and carnivorous traps.
Evolutionary modifications in organ-wide growth and local growth repression drive complex leaf diversity.

Conclusions:

Regulated cellular growth is the fundamental mechanism underlying leaf shape diversity.
Evolution has shaped leaf morphology through targeted alterations in growth patterns.
Carnivorous plant traps result from specific modifications in leaf primordium growth.