Research & Development World

  • Home Page
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Archeology
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Chemistry
    • COVID-19
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Market Pulse
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
      • Software
    • Semiconductors
  • 2021 R&D 100 Award Winners
    • R&D 100 Awards
    • 2020 Winners
    • Winner Archive
  • Resources
    • Digital Issues
    • Podcasts
    • Subscribe
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Webinars

Blueprint for Shape in Ancient Land Plants

By University of Bristol | December 9, 2016

Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Cambridge have unlocked the secrets of shape in the most ancient of land plants using time-lapse imaging, growth analysis and computer modelling.

Liverworts, with their flattened creeping bodies and primitive single-celled rooting structures, are the oldest surviving group of plants to be found on land.

Since then, 470 million years of evolution has given rise to a vast array of different plant shapes including complex branching structures with leaves and intricate flowers.

The systems controlling shape determination and diversification have captivated scientists for years.

How do small collections of cells develop into such ordered and intricate structures, and how do different shapes arise?

The blueprint for these diverse shapes however, may lie within the humble liverworts.  

The researchers’ findings show that small differences in growth rates between growing points at the edge of their flattened bodies are the key to generating the overall plant shape.

The work suggests that each growing point on the plant releases auxin, a growth-regulating chemical which can move a short distance to control the speed at which an area of the plant grows.

With different zones growing at different rates, the global shape of the plant emerges. In this way, the auxin produced at the growing points determines the shape of the plant.

Similar approaches in more recently evolved flowering plants show that it is growth orientations rather than growth rates that largely determine plant shape, and auxin transport determines these orientations.

Dr Jill Harrison, a Royal Society Fellow at the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, said: “When we compare the findings from flowering plants with these new findings from liverworts we can see that the way in which auxin regulates plant shape may have changed during evolution.”

Related Articles Read More >

Breakthrough in the Discovery of DNA in Ancient Bones Buried in Water
Traces of Crawling in Italian Cave Give Clues to Ancient Humans’ Social Behavior
Freshwater Mussel Shells Were Material of Choice For Prehistoric Craftsmen
Middle Pleistocene Human Skull Reveals Variation and Continuity in Early Asian Humans
2021 R&D Global Funding Forecast

Need R&D World news in a minute?

We Deliver!
R&D World Enewsletters get you caught up on all the mission critical news you need in research and development. Sign up today.
Enews Signup

R&D World Digital Issues

February 2020 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R& magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • 2021 Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • Home Page
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Archeology
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Chemistry
    • COVID-19
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Market Pulse
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
      • Software
    • Semiconductors
  • 2021 R&D 100 Award Winners
    • R&D 100 Awards
    • 2020 Winners
    • Winner Archive
  • Resources
    • Digital Issues
    • Podcasts
    • Subscribe
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Webinars