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CROSSING THE LINE. “Alarmingly, the complex pathway of roots through a non-homogenous substrate, this classical example calling for analogies with the maze navigation test of animal intelligence, may fall into the same category. Synchronous perception of gravity, light, mineral nutrient and soil moisture gradients (with the later being constantly modified by activities of the growing root itself) is sufficient to guide a root tip through a rather complex and realistically-looking trajectory.” https://lnkd.in/dfsCv77 View in LinkedIn

ROOT SENSES. "Scientists have since found that the tips of plant roots, in addition to sensing gravity, moisture, light, pressure, and hardness, can also sense volume, nitrogen, phosphorus, salt, various toxins, microbes, and chemical signals from neighboring plants." https://lnkd.in/dvFaNgd View in LinkedIn

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FLORAL SYMMETRY GENES. "Here we examine the complexity of GRNs by examining one thread of the floral symmetry pathway: TCP and MYB genes and the petal whorl." (GRN = gene regulatory networks). http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.13198/full View in LinkedIn

FLORAL SYMMETRY DRIVERS. "In addition to position, changes in morphological characteristics such as symmetry in petal shape, presence or absence of trichomes on petals, colour differences among petals, and changes in cell types on petal surfaces can also lead to shifts in floral symmetry." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.13198/full View in LinkedIn

MULTIPLE PETAL FORMS. "In core eudicots this ultimately results in three petal types: a medially positioned abaxial (ventral) petal, two lateral petals and two adaxial (dorsal) petals. Each of these separate groups (two dorsal petals, two lateral petals, and single ventral petal) can vary in multiple morphological characteristics to result in a floral form with a single dorsoventral plane of symmetry." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.13198/full View in LinkedIn

RADIAL VERSUS BILATERAL SYMMETRY. "While flower symmetry is generally categorized as radially symmetrical or bilaterally symmetrical, there are clearly many variable traits that make each separate species unique. For example, a shift from radial to bilateral symmetry involving the petal whorl involves a transition from a single petal form within the flower to the individualization of petals within the whorl and the resulting possibility of having multiple petal forms." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.13198/full View in LinkedIn

PERSEVERATING EVOLUTION. "During diversification of flowering plants, similar adaptive traits have been gained and even lost repeatedly, often utilizing or coopting similar GRNs. This trend is highlighted by the recurrent shifts in floral symmetry, in which there have been a hypothesized 70 shifts from radial to bilaterally symmetrical flowers and countless reversals back to radial symmetry." (GRN = gene regulatory networks). https://lnkd.in/dD4GcAS View in LinkedIn

DARWIN’S LOVE OF PLANTS. “Darwin had always had a special, tender feeling for plants and a special admiration, too (“it has always pleased me to exalt plants in the scale of organised beings...” https://lnkd.in/dxg3BgZ View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE contemplates for this and next weekend the exquisite story of floral symmetry and its impact on adaptation, pollination and speciation from a genetic perspective. The remarkable subtlety of gene expression by location, timing, concentration and upstream gene regulation in the endless evolutionary shifts of floral symmetries is a case study of the profoundly innovative and complex evolution of the merest biological feature. View in LinkedIn