Abstract
SummaryVascular systems are intimately related to the shape and spatial arrangement of the plant organs they support. We investigate the largely unexplored association between spiral phyllotaxis and the vascular system in Asteraceae flowers heads.We imaged heads of eight species using synchrotron-based X-ray micro-computed tomography and applied original virtual reality and haptic software to explore head vasculature in three dimensions. We then constructed a computational model to infer a plausible patterning mechanism.The vascular system in the head of the model plantGerbera hybridais qualitatively different from those ofBellis perennisandHelianthus annuus, characterized previously.Cirsium vulgare, Craspedia globosa, Echinacea purpurea, Echinops bannaticus, andTanacetum vulgarerepresent variants of the Bellis and Helianthus systems. In each species the layout of the main strands is stereotypical, but details vary. The observed vascular patterns can be generated by a common computational model with different parameter values.In spite of the observed differences of vascular systems in heads, they may be produced by a conserved mechanism. The diversity and irregularities of vasculature stand in contrast with the relative uniformity and regularity of phyllotactic patterns, confirming that phyllotaxis in heads is not driven by the vasculature.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cited by
1 articles.
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