Leaves are lateral determinate structures formed in a predictable sequence (phyllotaxy) on the flanks of an indeterminate shoot apical meristem. The origin and evolution of leaves in vascular plants has been widely debated. Being the main conspicuous organ of nearly all vascular plants and often easy to recognize as such, it seems surprising that leaves have had multiple origins. For decades, m...

The Arabidopsis thaliana ASYMMETRIC LEAVES1 (AS1) and AS2 genes are important for repressing class I KNOTTED1-like homeobox (KNOX) genes and specifying leaf adaxial identity in leaf development. RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRPs) are critical for posttranscriptional and transcriptional gene silencing in eukaryotes; however, very little is known about their functions in plant development. Her...

Changes in the major chloroplast pigments of pigment-deficient genotypes of soybeans were studied as a function of leaf age and plant age. The trends of pigment development are plotted as a function of relative leaf age at two periods of plant development. Comparisons are made between aging leaves from different nodes and leaves of different ages from the same node. In addition, trends of pigme...

Exploring genes with impact on yield-related phenotypes is the preceding step to accomplishing crop improvements while facing a growing world population. A genome-wide association scan on leaf blade area (LA) in a worldwide spring barley collection (Hordeum vulgare L.), including 125 two- and 93 six-rowed accessions, identified a gene encoding the homeobox transcription factor, Six-rowed spike ...

The developmental plasticity of leaf size and shape is important for leaf function and plant survival. However, the mechanisms by which plants form diverse leaves in response to environmental conditions are not well understood. Here, we identified TIE1-ASSOCIATED RING-TYPE E3 LIGASE1 (TEAR1) and found that it regulates leaf development by promoting the degradation of TCP INTERACTOR-CONTAINING E...

The maize leafbladeless1 (lbl1) mutant displays a variety of leaf and plant phenotypes. The most extreme manifestation in the leaf is the formation of radially symmetric, abaxialized leaves due to a complete loss of adaxial cell types. Less severe phenotypes, resulting from a partial loss of adaxial cell identity, include the formation of ectopic laminae at the boundary between abaxialized, mut...

The influence of moisture content of mulberry leaf on the growth, development and moisture build up in the body of silkworm was studied by feeding with different maturity leaves to late age of silkworm larvae. Significantly higher larval moisture (79.78%), larval weight (65.65 g), pupal moisture (73.81%) was recorded in top tender leaf (high moisture) fed batches and least was recorded in the c...

It has been suggested that modification and co-option of existing gene regulatory networks (GRNs) play an important role in the morphological diversity. In plants, leaf development is one of active research areas, and the basic GRN for leaf development is beginning to be understood. Moreover, leaves show wide variation in their form, and some of this variation is thought to be the result of ada...

The leaf is the major organ involved in light perception and conversion of solar energy into organic carbon. In order to adapt to different natural habitats, plants have developed a variety of leaf forms, ranging from simple to compound, with various forms of dissection. Due to the enormous cellular complexity of leaves, understanding the mechanisms regulating development of these organs is dif...

Patterns of early leaf development in monocots are analyzed in a phylogenetic context. Recent developmental and phylogenetic studies enable this reevaluation of the leaf base model of the developing monocot leaf. Two questions are addressed: a) is the presence of the Vorlauferspitze (fore-runner tip) invariably correlated with development of the lamina from the lower leaf zone? and b) was the a...