Topological Phenotypes Constitute a New Dimension in the Phenotypic Space of Leaf Venation Networks.

ABSTRACT: The leaves of angiosperms contain highly complex venation networks consisting of recursively nested, hierarchically organized loops. We describe a new phenotypic trait of reticulate vascular networks based on the topology of the nested loops. This phenotypic trait encodes information orthogonal to widely used geometric phenotypic traits, and thus constitutes a new dimension in the leaf venation phenotypic space. We apply our metric to a database of 186 leaves and leaflets representing 137 species, predominantly from the Burseraceae family, revealing diverse topological network traits even within this single family. We show that topological information significantly improves identification of leaves from fragments by calculating a "leaf venation fingerprint" from topology and geometry. Furt

SUBMITTER: Ronellenfitsch H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4699199 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature