Moscow, 5 Aug - RIA Novosti. Sunflowers have an amazing ability to constantly "look" in the sun due to mutation, which has changed the work of their "internal watches" in such a way that they are extremely unusually conducted by the growth of his cells, forcing the inflorescence to rotate from the east to the West in the bright time of the day, the article published in the article published in Journal Science.
"The fact that the plant has an idea of \u200b\u200bwhen and where the sun comes from, forced me to assume that there is a connection between the" biochas "and the chain of proteins and genes that manage the growth of sunflowers. In addition to the fact that the flower gets more light, he Even more attracts bees, as they love the warm surfaces, "Stacey Harmer said from the University of California in Davis (USA).
Relying on this assumption, Harmer and her colleagues revealed one of the oldest and interesting mysteries of Botany, studying the work of the so-called circadian rhythms that manage all the processes inside the cells of plants and animals depending on the time of day, and their effects on the operation of oxin - stimulator protein Growth.
For this purpose, the authors of the article raised a few sunflowers, some of which landed in the laboratory, where the light was constantly included, and others on the usual field. Part of the plants, scientists secured in ads in such a way that they could not turn around the Sun, which allowed them to estimate the effects of refusal from such an evolutionary device.
Sunflowers from the painting Van Gogh have gene mutations, found out scientistsSunflowers depicted on a series of pictures of Van Gogh have signs of genetic mutations, the article published by scientists from the University of Georgia (USA) in Plos Genetics magazine.In the disclosure of the principles of this movement, a witty reception was helped by one of the authors of the article - the biologists took the marker and caused a few points on the sunflower stem, followed by the camcorder. If the distance between them changed, this meant that the flower stem was grew where these points were drawn.
As the observations showed, the "motor" in the flower movement was the internal clock of the plant - a set of photosensitive proteins and "connected" genes to them, controlling various life processes associated with the onset of the day, night, morning and evening.
If the duration of the day has changed artificially, then the sunflowers lost the ability to navigate the sun, even if an artificial light source was moving along the "Necksery" as well as the real shine. This immediately affected the flower growth rate, biomass recruitment and seed development.
Flomal "points" told about exactly how it happens - it turned out that this watch affect the flower movement in two ways: controlling the growth rate and forcing one side of the stem to grow faster than the other. Thanks to this, sunflower gradually turns into a bright day of day, following the sun.
This feature of the sunflower may have one unexpected evolutionary plus - as they found out Harmer and her colleagues, the bees like warm flowers, especially in the morning, and turn towards the Sun helps the flower to warm up and attract more pollinators.
A series of experiments showed: the movement of sunflower corresponds to the 24-hour circadian rhythm. Scientists tried to "fool" the plants, artificially changing the duration of the movement of the lighting source to 30 hours. However, in this case, the sunflowers move unevenly, which affected their growth, biomass and yields
It is known that the inflorescence of the sunflower turns after the sun during the day, and at night again change their position to "look" to the east with the dawn. After the sunflowers are flowing, they stop turning toward the sun.
Scientists explain that the flow of sunflower inflorescences arises due to uneven growth of the plant. One side of the stem grows faster than the other, as a result of which the inflorescence turns.
In another experiment, scientists artificially limited the movement of plants. They tied some inflorescences so that they could not rotate, or unfold pots so that in the morning the plants were not addressed to the sun. It turned out that the leaves of both sunflower groups were 10% less than that of plants following the sun.
In addition to the accumulation of greater biomass, the sunflowers acquired another advantage: plants addressed to the sun much more attractive for insects. To the colors trapped in the morning to the east, flew five times more bees.
"Bees go crazy from plants that are turned east, ignoring inflorescences turned to the West," says Stacy Harmer from California University in Davis. - On the sunny side of the plant heated faster, and warm flowers attract more pollinators. "
Anna Khotyev
Fibonacci sequence was found in the sunflower flower
According to biologists, large flowers are one of the most obvious and beautiful demonstrations of Fibonacci sequence. This numerical sequence is a number of natural numbers, where each subsequent number is equal to the sum of the previous two. The sequence may look like this: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 ...
Researchers found out that seeds are ordered in two rows of spirals, one of which goes clockwise, the other is against. According to scientists, in most sunflowers of the sunflower, you can detect a combination of numbers included in the Fibonacci sequence - for example, 34 and 55 or 55 and 89. And if you have a very large sunflower, you can count 89 and 144 seeds.
In 2012, the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester (United Kingdom) in honor of the century since the birthday mathematics launched an unusual project - "Sunflowers of Turing", offering everyone to grow sunflower and bring a flower to the museum (or send a photo of the plants).
This project allowed collecting 657 photos, for processing and the analysis of which almost four years left. Since in the inflorescence of sunflower, seeds are usually clearly visible, scientists were able to calculate their quantity and confirm that the Fibonacci regularity is really traced in colors.
Biologists have not yet can understand the mechanism with which the "commitment" of certain plants for numerical sequences is connected. The problem is that plants do not always demonstrate such a pattern. In the case of the studied colors of the sunflower, the seed patterns corresponding to Fibonacci sequences were found about 80% of plants. The remaining inflorescences have demonstrated more complex patterns.
Anna Khotyev
reference
British mathematician Alan Turing was interested in similar patterns in the first half of the last century. The scientist became famous for the fact that during World War II developed a method that helped hack the code of the German encryption machine Enigma. In addition, Turing had a significant impact on the development of informatics and artificial intelligence. After the war, the scientist became interested in mathematical patterns in plants.
Long ago, people noticed that young flowers of sunflower turn over the day after the day after the sun, and at night they returned to the initial position, so that in the morning to meet him in the east. But so far, scientists could not reveal this mystery: what makes the plants make their daily ritual and why does the lumina stop over with the "worship"?
In search of a response of Stacy Harmer from California University in Davis and her colleagues conducted a series of experiments.
At the first stage, sunflowers growing in a natural medium changed the conditions. One group of scientists "immobilized" so that the plants can not be rotated at all, and the other was recorded in such a way that the sunflowers at the sunrise were turned to the West. When the flowers have grown, it turned out that the leaves in both groups were 10% less than that of "free" plants. This confirmed the guessed that the surveillance of the sun was needed by sunflowers for more efficient growth.
Then scientists decided to check what the rhythmic "dances" of sunflowers were due to the internal clock or environmental conditions.
They moved the plants, growing on the street, to the room with constant top lighting and found that the sunflowers were continued to turn out of the side to the side exactly as they did before.
Then, scientists put the plants into a special room with a string of lamps, which turned on in turn, imitating the movement of the sun. When the researchers have programmed artificial lighting on the thirty-hour change cycle of the "day" and "nights", the plants rotated from side to the side without a regular schedule. But when the light mode was again normal, the sunflowers strictly followed the artificial "sun", showing that internal circadian rhythms play an important role in the flower movement.
But the most biologists were interested in the question of why after flowering the sunflowers stop turning from the side in Strona and freeze, "looking" in the direction of sunrise. Then the Harmer team turned part of the plants to the West, and then calculated the number of bees and other pollinators who sat on the flowers facing different sides of the world.
It turned out that in the morning hours insects, five times more often visited flowers facing east than turned in the opposite direction.
"You can make sure that the bees simply go crazy about flowers looking to the east, and practically do not pay attention to plants turned to the West," said Stacy Harmer.
Previous studies have shown that pollinators prefer more warm flowers, so sunflowers who received a greater dose of the first morning rays are more popular.
"I was constantly surprised at how difficult plants are arranged," the Harmer continues. "" They are really masterfully adapt to environmental conditions. "
The results of the study published in the science publication raise more complex questions. For example, as plants determine the time and how do they find the right direction, when in the dark turn to where the sun goes?
But, according to experts, the very fact that sunflowers have internal clock and are guided by their own rhythms, is a "sacred grailer" in the study of their complex behavior. And, as the university's press release is emphasized, this is the first example of temporary synchronization in plants living in a natural medium that has a direct impact on growth efficiency.
To begin with, it is worth clarifying one very important thing. The statement that sunflowers always follow the sun fairly just if we are talking about young, not yet discontinued sunflower flowers. Contrary to popular belief, mature sunflower flowers do not turn over the sun and are usually directed to the east.
Unbreaked sunflower buds really follow the sun, changing their position during the day. This phenomenon is called heliotropism (see paragraph at the end of the article).
Sun observation is necessary for sunflowers for more efficient growth. Scientists fixed plants without giving them to turn, or, on the contrary, the pots rotated, disturbing the natural move of movements. And in that, and in another case, the leaves of the plants turned out to be about 10% less than the neighbors who calmly turned over the sun.
In addition, experts put a few points with a marker on the stem to learn how the sunflowers move behind the sun. For points, scientists followed using a camcorder. If the distance between them changed, this meant that the flower stem was grew where these points were drawn.
When the day of the plants turned after the sun, the eastern side of the stem grew a faster pace than Western, as a result, the flower itself turned to the sun. And at night, the western side grew faster, and the stem turned into the other side.
The secret of the sunflower movement lies in the uneven growth of his stem. According to scientists, direct sunlight kill the growth hormones contained in the stem, which are called auxins. The uneven distribution of these hormones on a stalk causes sunflower to grow slower from the sunny side and faster with the shadow, tilting the entire stem to the sun. With a change in the position of the sun, the distribution of auxins on a stalk, which in turn, leads to a change in the flower inclination.
Thus, the movement of the plant is carried out with the help of special motor cells involved in the growth mechanism and in the flexible base of the flower. It turned out that this movement depended on the internal watches of the plant - circadian rhythms, which manage various life processes associated with the onset of the day, night, morning and evening. The "clock" control the growth rate and force one side of the stem grow faster than the other. Thanks to this, sunflower gradually turns after the sun.
As the sunflower matures and the flower is revealed, the overall growth slows down and the plants stop moving during the day, remaining east-oriented. The fact is that the plant reacts stronger to sunlight early in the morning than in the afternoon, so it gradually stops moving to the West during the day.
How do sunflowers move at night?
As we all know, in the morning the unpacted sunflower buds meet the sun in the east, and in the evening they accompany him in the West. Here it was possible to finish our article if it were not for one "but": in the morning the buds of the sunflower were again directed to the east! It arises quite a logical question: "How?" Why at night, without any exposure to the sun, the sunflower continues to move? Moreover, at night, the movement of the sunflower occur with a much greater speed than the day.
To our general disappointment, scientists can not confidently answer this question. According to one of the theories, at night, the cells of the sunflower produce the energy that has accumulated when the stem is inclined, the "silent" flower is back. On another theory, the night movement of the stem does not depend on the Sun and is due to the "internal clock" of the clock of the sunflower itself.
Why is an adult sunflower flower always looks east?
With the growth of the stem and weighting of the flower, the redistribution of growth hormones produces a less noticeable effect. In the end, the flower of sunflower becomes too heavy to move. Therefore, after ripening, the sunflower no longer follows the sun and is always directed to the east. But why it is east?
Researchers also have an exact answer to this question. Some scientists argue that in one of the nights the flower "Sizes" in the east side and is no longer able to repeat his journey to the West.
Be that as it may, scientists continue to study in sunflower, which unexpectedly for many was something much more complex than just a flower, constantly following the sun.
Heliotropism of flowers
Heliotropic flowers track the movement of the sun across the sky during the day, from the east - to the west. At night, the flowers can navigate enough unsystematicly, but with dawn they turn to the east, to the upstream shining. The movement is carried out using special motor cells in a flexible base of the flower. These cells are ion pumps delivering potassium ions to nearby fabrics, which changes their tour. The segment bends due to the elongation of motor cells located on the shadow side (due to the growth of hydrostatic internal pressure). Heliotropism is a response of a plant on blue light. One of the most hot colors is the sunflower, which is the most different colors "walks" behind the sun, especially at an early age, until his head grows up to a large size and won't be too heavy to move (at this time all his forces focus on ripening seeds ). To a greater or lesser extent, almost all the colors are heliotropic.
Some plants behind the Sun are not pure heliotrops: their circadian movements are initialized by sunlight, and often continue some time after its disappearance.
The false opinion is widespread that sunflowers are "stretching" to the Sun (Heliotropism). In fact, the mature sunflower flowers are usually directed to the east and do not move. However, sunflower buds (before blooming) possess heliotropism. They change their orientation from the east to the west during the day.
Moscow, 5 Aug - RIA Novosti. Sunflowers have an amazing ability to constantly "look" in the sun due to mutation, which has changed the work of their "internal watches" in such a way that they are extremely unusually conducted by the growth of his cells, forcing the inflorescence to rotate from the east to the West in the bright time of the day, the article published in the article published in Journal Science.
"The fact that the plant has an idea of \u200b\u200bwhen and where the sun comes from, forced me to assume that there is a connection between the" biochas "and the chain of proteins and genes that manage the growth of sunflowers. In addition to the fact that the flower gets more light, he Even more attracts bees, as they love the warm surfaces, "Stacey Harmer said from the University of California in Davis (USA).
Relying on this assumption, Harmer and her colleagues revealed one of the oldest and interesting mysteries of Botany, studying the work of the so-called circadian rhythms that manage all the processes inside the cells of plants and animals depending on the time of day, and their effects on the operation of oxin - stimulator protein Growth.
For this purpose, the authors of the article raised a few sunflowers, some of which landed in the laboratory, where the light was constantly included, and others on the usual field. Part of the plants, scientists secured in ads in such a way that they could not turn around the Sun, which allowed them to estimate the effects of refusal from such an evolutionary device.
Sunflowers from the painting Van Gogh have gene mutations, found out scientistsSunflowers depicted on a series of pictures of Van Gogh have signs of genetic mutations, the article published by scientists from the University of Georgia (USA) in Plos Genetics magazine.In the disclosure of the principles of this movement, a witty reception was helped by one of the authors of the article - the biologists took the marker and caused a few points on the sunflower stem, followed by the camcorder. If the distance between them changed, this meant that the flower stem was grew where these points were drawn.
As the observations showed, the "motor" in the flower movement was the internal clock of the plant - a set of photosensitive proteins and "connected" genes to them, controlling various life processes associated with the onset of the day, night, morning and evening.
If the duration of the day has changed artificially, then the sunflowers lost the ability to navigate the sun, even if an artificial light source was moving along the "Necksery" as well as the real shine. This immediately affected the flower growth rate, biomass recruitment and seed development.
Flomal "points" told about exactly how it happens - it turned out that this watch affect the flower movement in two ways: controlling the growth rate and forcing one side of the stem to grow faster than the other. Thanks to this, sunflower gradually turns into a bright day of day, following the sun.
This feature of the sunflower may have one unexpected evolutionary plus - as they found out Harmer and her colleagues, the bees like warm flowers, especially in the morning, and turn towards the Sun helps the flower to warm up and attract more pollinators.