Mistletoe Berry Outline Mapping with a Path Curve Function and Recording the Circadian Rhythm of Their Phenotypic Shape Change.

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a discovery: the change of the outline shape of mistletoe (Viscum album ssp. album) berries in vivo and in situ during ripening. It was found that a plant organ that is usually considered to merely increase in size actually changes shape in a specific rhythmic fashion. We introduce a new approach to chronobiological research on a macro-phenotypic scale to trace changes over long periods of time (with a resolution from hours to months) by using a dynamic form-determining parameter called Lambda (λ). λ is known in projective geometry as a measure for pertinent features of the outline shapes of egg-like forms, so called path curves. Ascertained circadian changes of form were analyzed for their correlation with environmental factors such as light

SUBMITTER: Derbidge R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5122707 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature