Photothermal model of plant development

The development of plants depends on the photoperiod length, light intensity, temperature, and length of light day integral. The reaction of a plant to the day length or daily light integral can depend on both the range of studied light intensities and photoperiod. Based on the data concerning the effects of light and thermal integrals on the developmental rate of plants of different photoperiodic groups, a photothermal model of plant development was proposed. The model was used to calculate the lengths of optimal photoperiods and ranges of daily temperature gradients ensuring the highest developmental rate of some plants, such as soybean, wheat, cucumber, and barley.     

Illuminating plant development

Throughout 1994 remarkable progress was made with molecular and genetic studies on signal transduction pathways of photomorphogenesis, the lightdependent development of plants. Analysis of Arabidopsis DET and COP genes suggests that they are involved in suppression of photomorphogenic development in the dark and that this is then reversed by light. Studies with COP1 indicate that this is achieved by redistribution of COP1 from the nucleus, in the dark, to the cytosol in the light⁽¹⁾. Overexpression of COP1 in the light, however, was able to partially suppress photomorphogenic development, confirming its role as a light-inactivatable repressor⁽²⁾. Evidence also suggests that some of the COP gene products may interact directly to form a large complex⁽³⁾.     

A minimal continuous model for simulating growth and development of plant root systems

Aims: This paper proposes a general and minimal continuous model of root growth that aggregates architectural and developmental information and that can be used at different spatial scales. Methods: The model is described by advection, diffusion and reaction operators, which are related to growth processes such as primary growth, branching, mortality and root death. Output variable is the number of root tips per unit volume of soil. Operator splitting techniques are used to fit, solve and analyze the model with regards to ontogeny. The modeling approach is illustrated on a 2D case study concerning a part of Eucalyptus root system. Results: Operator splitting is helpful to fit the model. Basic knowledge on root architecture and development allows decreasing the number of unknown parameters and defining ontogenic phases on which specific calibrations must be carried out. Simulation results reproduce quantitatively the dynamic evolution of root density distribution with a good accuracy. Conclusion: The proposed root growth model is based on a continuous formalism that can be easily coupled with other physical models, e.g. nutrient and water transfer. The equations are generic and allow simulating different root architectures and growth strategies. They can be efficiently solved using adapted numerical methods.     

A thermal time model of post-initiation flower development in the shade plant, cineraria

Effects of temperature on flower development in cineraria cv. Cindy Blue were studied in controlled environment rooms and in glasshouses. The base, optimum and maximum temperatures respectively for progress to macroscopic flower appearance after flower initiation respectively were 1.6°C, 19.3°C and 39.8°C. From these cardinal temperatures, a thermal time requirement for flower appearance after flower initiation was calculated to be 130°Cd. The base, optimum and maximum temperatures for progress to anthesis after flower initiation were respectively 1.7°C, 22.3°C and 37.1°C and from these values, the thermal time required to reach anthesis after flower initiation was calculated to be 555°Cd. No significant difference was demonstrated between thermal times for flower development in plants grown in controlled environment growth rooms or under glasshouse conditions where irradiance and photoperiod varied markedly.     

Heterochrony in plant development

Plants proceed through several distinct phases of growth and development in their life cycle. Under normal conditions, one phase terminates as another begins, but the relative time at which the phases initiate and terminate can be altered experimentally. New phenotypes are obtained when two developmental phases are expressed at the same time, as well as when phases are shifted coordinately. By analyzing these phenotypes, we can learn how plants normally regulate the transitions between developmental phases.     

Differential proteomics of plant development

In this mini-review, recent advances in plant developmental proteomics are summarized. The growing interest in plant proteomics continually produces large numbers of developmental studies on plant cell division, elongation, differentiation, and formation of various organs. The brief overview of changes in proteome profiles emphasizes the participation of stress-related proteins in all developmental processes, which substantially changes the view on functional classification of these proteins. Next, it is noteworthy that proteomics helped to recognize some metabolic and housekeeping proteins as important signaling inducers of developmental pathways. Further, cell division and elongation are dependent on proteins involved in membrane trafficking and cytoskeleton dynamics. These protein groups are less prevalently represented in studies concerning cell differentiation and organ formation, which do not target primarily cell division. The synthesis of new proteins, generally observed during developmental processes, is followed by active protein folding. In this respect, disulfide isomerase was found to be commonly up-regulated during several developmental processes. The future progress in plant proteomics requires new and/or complementary approaches including cell fractionation, specific chemical treatments, molecular cloning and subcellular localization of proteins combined with more sensitive methods for protein detection and identification.     

The evolution of plant development

There has been much recent interest in the evolution of plant development and especially in trying to understand the developmental genetic basis of morphological evolution. Significant progress has been made in understanding the evolution of floral organization and the mechanisms that might underlie the evolution of compound leaves and inflorescence morphology. These advances are reinforcing the idea that phenotypic evolution can proceed via changes at few loci of large effect and that promoter evolution may be an important and frequent mechanism.     

Cytoskeleton in plant development

The plant cytoskeleton has crucial functions in a number of cellular processes that are essential for cell morphogenesis, organogenesis and development. These functions have been intensively investigated using single cell model systems. With the recent characterization of plant mutants that show aberrant organogenesis resulting from primary defects in cytoskeletal organization, an integrated understanding of the importance of the cytoskeleton for plant development has begun to emerge. Newly established techniques that allow the non-destructive visualization of microtubules or actin filaments in living plant cells and organs will further advance this understanding.     

The evolution of plant development

The last decade has witnessed a resurgence in the study of the evolution of plant development, combining investigations in systematics, developmental morphology, molecular developmental genetics, and molecular evolution. The integration of phylogenetic studies, structural analyses of fossil and extant taxa, and molecular developmental genetic information allows the formulation of explicit and testable hypotheses for the evolution of morphological characters. These comprehensive approaches provide opportunities to dissect the evolution of major developmental transitions among land plants, including those associated with apical meristems, the origins of the root/shoot dichotomy, diversification of leaves, and origin and subsequent modification of flower structure. The evolution of these major developmental innovations is discussed within both phylogenetic and molecular genetic contexts. We conclude that it is the combination of these approaches that will lead to the greatest understanding of the evolution of plant development.     

Proteomic dissection of plant development

Plant development is controlled by complex endogenous genetic programs and responses to environmental cues. Proteome analyses have recently been introduced to plant biology to identify proteins instrumental in these developmental processes. To date most plant proteome studies have been employed to generate reference maps of the most abundant soluble proteins of plant organs at a defined developmental stage. However, proteomics is now also utilized for genetic studies comparing the proteomes of different plant genotypes, for physiological studies analyzing the influences of exogenous signals on a particular plant organ, and developmental studies investigating proteome changes during development. Technical advances are now beginning to allow a proteomic dissection of individual cell types, thus greatly increasing the information revealed by proteome analyses.     

Photothermal spectroscopy of bacteriochlorophyll-lipoprotein complexes.

Photoacoustic spectra at room and 85 K temperatures as well as photothermal beam deflection spectra of bacteriochlorophyll-lipoprotein complexes from purple bacterium Chromatium minutissimum were measured. Spectra were compared and obtained differences were tentatively explained by various inertion of these two methods. Photothermal beam deflection method measure the heat which is generated in close surroundings of absorbing pigment molecule, whereas usage of more inert photoacoustic signal is averaged over contributions from various pigments located in a larger sample volume and therefore is similar to absorption spectra.     

Ascorbate system in plant development

By using lycorine, a specific inhibitor of ascorbate biosynthesis, it was possible to demonstrate that plant cells consume a high quantity of ascorbate (AA). Thein vivo metabolic reactions utilizing ascorbate are the elimination of H₂O₂ by ascorbate peroxidase and the hydroxylation of proline residues present in the polypeptide chains by means of peptidyl-proline hydroxylase.Ascorbate acts in the cell metabolism as an electron donor, and consequently ascorbate free radical (AFR) is continuously produced. AFR can be reconverted to AA by means of AFR reductase or can undergo spontaneous disproportion, thus generating dehydroascorbic acid (DHA).During cell division and cell expansion ascorbate consumption is more or less the same; however, the AA/DHA ratio is 6–10 during cell division and 1–3 during cell expansion. This ratio depends essentially on the different AFR reductase activity in these cells. In meristematic cells AFR reductase is very high, and consequently a large amount of AFR is reduced to AA and a small amount of AFR undergoes disproportionation; in expanding cells the AFR reductase activity is lower, and therefore AFR is massively disproportionated, thus generating a large quantity of DHA. Since the transition from cell division to cell expansion is marked by a large drop of AFR reductase activity in the ER, it is suggested here that AFR formed in this compartment may be involved in the enlargement of the ER membranes and provacuole acidification.DHA is a toxic compound for the cell metabolism and as such the cell has various strategies to counteract its effects: (i) meristematic cells, having an elevated AFR reductase, prevent large DHA production, limiting the quantity of AFR undergoing disproportionation. (ii) Expanding cells, which contain a lower AFR reductase, are, however, provided with a developed vacuolar system and segregate the toxic DHA in the vacuole. (iii) Chloroplast strategy against DHA toxicity is efficient DHA reduction to AA using GSH as electron donor. This strategy is usually poorly utilized by the surrounding cytoplasm.DHA reduction does play an important role at one point in the life of the plant, that is, during the early stage of seed germination. The dry seed does not store ascorbate, but contains DHA, and several DHA-reducing proteins are detectable. In this condition, DHA reduction is necessary to form a limited AA pool in the seed for the metabolic requirements of the beginning of germination. After 30–40h ascorbateex novo synthesis starts, DHA reduction declines until a single isoform remains, as is typical in the roots, stem, and leaves of seedlings. Finally, DHA recycling also appears to be important under adverse environmental conditions and ascorbate deficiency.