The balance between cell proliferation and cell differentiation is essential for leaf patterning. However, identification of the factors coordinating leaf patterning and cell growth behavior is challenging. Here, we characterized a temperature-sensitive Arabidopsis mutant with leaf blade and venation defects. We mapped the mutation to the sub-2 allele of the SCRAMBLED/STRUBBELIG (SCM/SUB) recep...

A study on the variation of leaf venation patterns was conducted on 21 taxa of the genus Ficus in Peninsular Malaysia. The results showed the existence of eight leaf venation patterns based on veinlets, the ultimate marginal and areolar venation. The majority of species, such as F. annulata, F. benghalensis, F. benjamina, F. deltoidea var. angustifolia, F. deltoidea var. kunstleri, F. depressa,...

Leaf size and venation show remarkable diversity across dicotyledons, and are key determinants of plant adaptation in ecosystems past and present. Here we present global scaling relationships of venation traits with leaf size. Across a new database for 485 globally distributed species, larger leaves had major veins of larger diameter, but lower length per leaf area, whereas minor vein traits we...

In multicellular organisms, patterning is a process that generates axes in the primary body plan, creates domains upon organ formation, and finally leads to differentiation into tissues and cell types. We identified the Arabidopsis thaliana TORNADO1 (TRN1) and TRN2 genes and their role in leaf patterning processes such as lamina venation, symmetry, and lateral growth. In trn mutants, the leaf v...

Leaf venation is a pervasive example of a complex biological network, endowing leaves with a transport system and mechanical resilience. Transport networks optimized for efficiency have been shown to be trees, i.e., loopless. However, dicotyledon leaf venation has a large number of closed loops, which are functional and able to transport fluid in the event of damage to any vein, including the p...

Leaf venation develops complex patterns in angiosperms, but the mechanism underlying this process is largely unknown. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms governing vein pattern formation, we previously isolated vascular network defective (van) mutants that displayed venation discontinuities. Here, we report the phenotypic analysis of van4 mutants, and we identify and characterize the VAN4 gen...

Leaves are extraordinarily variable in form, longevity, venation architecture, and capacity for photosynthetic gas exchange. Much of this diversity is linked with water transport capacity. The pathways through the leaf constitute a substantial (>or=30%) part of the resistance to water flow through plants, and thus influence rates of transpiration and photosynthesis. Leaf hydraulic conductance (...

Understanding the extremely variable, complex shape and venation characters of angiosperm leaves is one of the most challenging problems in botany. Machine learning offers opportunities to analyze large numbers of specimens, to discover novel leaf features of angiosperm clades that may have phylogenetic significance, and to use those characters to classify unknowns. Previous computer vision app...

The hydraulic resistance of the leaf (R1) is a major bottleneck in the whole plant water transport pathway and may thus be linked with the enormous variation in leaf structure and function among tropical rain forest trees. A previous study found that R1 varied by an order of magnitude across 10 tree species of Panamanian tropical lowland rain forest. Here, correlations were tested between R1 an...