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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Reconstructing Terrestrial Paleoclimate and Paleoecology with Fossil Leaves Using Digital Leaf Physiognomy and Leaf Mass Per Area

Reconstructing Terrestrial Paleoclimate and Paleoecology with Fossil Leaves Using Digital Leaf Physiognomy and Leaf Mass Per Area

Published on: October 25, 2024

How to grow a flat leaf.

Ziyuan Peng¹, Maura J Zimmermann², Adrienne H K Roeder²

¹State Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Modulation Research, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Center for Quantitative Biology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China; Peking University-Tsinghua University-National Institute of Biological Sciences Joint Graduate Program, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Current Biology : CB

|June 22, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Leaf flatness, crucial for photosynthesis, results from coordinated gene expression, cell wall changes, and growth regulation. Disruptions cause leaf shape defects, while evolutionary changes modify this core network.

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Published on: September 22, 2023

Area of Science:

Plant Biology
Developmental Biology
Biophysics

Background:

Leaf flatness is essential for efficient photosynthesis.
It arises from complex, multiscale coordination of developmental and biomechanical processes.
Understanding leaf morphogenesis is key to plant evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

To synthesize the mechanisms driving leaf lamina expansion.
To provide a unified framework for understanding leaf morphogenesis and its diversification.
To explore how genetic circuits translate into emergent growth dynamics.

Main Methods:

Review of literature on polarity establishment, growth patterning, and biomechanical regulation in leaf development.
Analysis of gene expression patterns (adaxial-abaxial genes, WOX genes) and hormonal signaling (auxin).
Integration of live imaging, biomechanical modeling, and computational simulations.

Main Results:

Differential growth, driven by adaxial-abaxial gene expression and pectin methylesterification, breaks radial symmetry.
Auxin convergence activates WOX genes, creating proliferation zones for tissue outgrowth.
Cortical microtubule alignment constrains growth anisotropy, maintaining flatness.

Conclusions:

Proper coordination of genetic, cellular, and mechanical factors is critical for leaf flatness.
Disrupted coordination leads to leaf shape abnormalities like buckling or doming.
Evolutionary leaf forms represent modifications of this fundamental regulatory network.