# phyto: weird, jazzy Nature, the 'transference of sexuality', 'some sexual consequences of being a plant'.

<< Plants have characteristic features that affect the expression of sexual function, notably the existence of a haploid organism in the life cycle, and in their development, which is modular, iterative and environmentally reactive. For instance, primary selection (the first filtering of the products of meiosis) is via gametes in diplontic animals, but via gametophyte organisms in plants. Intragametophytic selfing produces double haploid sporophytes which is in effect a form of clonal reproduction mediated by sexual mechanisms. In homosporous plants, the diploid sporophyte is sexless, sex being only expressed in the haploid gametophyte. However, in seed plants, the timing and location of gamete production is determined by the sporophyte, which therefore has a sexual role, and in dioecious plants has genetic sex, while the seed plant gametophyte has lost genetic sex. This evolutionary transition is one that E.J.H. Corner called ‘the transference of sexuality’. The iterative development characteristic of plants can lead to a wide variety of patterns in the distribution of sexual function, and in dioecious plants poor canalization of reproductive development can lead to intrasexual mating and the production of YY supermales or WW superfemales. Finally, plant modes of asexual reproduction (agamospermy/apogamy) are also distinctive by subverting gametophytic processes. >>

Quentin Cronk. Some sexual consequences of being a plant. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. doi: 10.1098/ rstb.2021.0213. Mar 21, 2022. 

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2021.0213

Also

keyword 'phyto' | 'plant' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=phyto

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=plant

keywords: evol, evolution, phyto, plant, sex, sexuality

# gst: modeling complex nanofibril-based (cell) walls to meet diverse (bio-physical) constraints.

<< A plant cell wall's unique ability to expand without weakening or breaking -- a quality required for plant growth -- is due to the movement of its cellulose skeleton >>️

<< The new model, (..) reveals that chains of cellulose bundle together within the cell wall, providing strength, and slide against each other when the cell is stretched, providing extensibility. >>

<< The new study, (..) presents a new concept of the plant cell wall, gives insights into plant cell growth, and could provide inspiration for the design of polymeric materials with new properties. >>

<< For a long time, the prevailing concept of a plant cell wall has been that of a gel that is reinforced by cellulose fibers, with the stiff cellulose rods acting like steel rebar in cement, (..) However, we determined that cellulose chains instead stick to each other to form a network of cellulose bundles, which provides a lot more mechanical strength than disconnected rods floating in a gel. And it's the cellulose chains, rather than other components, that limit cell wall expansion, sliding alongside each other like an extension ladder when the cell is stretched. >> Daniel Cosgrove. ️

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What makes plant cell walls both strong and extensible? Penn State. May 13, 2021. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210513142432.htm

Yao Zhang, Jingyi Yu, et al. Molecular insights into the complex mechanics of plant epidermal cell walls. Science. 

Vol. 372, Issue 6543, pp. 706-711

doi: 10.1126/ science.abf2824. May 14,  2021. 

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6543/706

# life: cascading effects of noise on plants

<< Though noise may change moment by moment for humans, it has a more lasting effect on trees and plants. (..) human noise pollution affects the diversity of plant life in an ecosystem even after the noise has been removed. This is the first study that explores the long-term effects of noise on plant communities. >>

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Cascading effects of noise on plants persist over long periods and after noise is removed. California Polytechnic State University. Apr 13, 2021. 

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-cascading-effects-noise-persist-periods.html

AA << found support for long-term negative effects of noise on tree seedling recruitment, evenness of woody plants and increasingly dissimilar vegetation communities with differences in noise levels. Furthermore, seedling recruitment and plant community composition did not recover following noise removal, possibly due in part to a lag in recovery among animals that disperse and pollinate plants. (They) results add to the limited evidence that noise has cascading ecological effects. Moreover, these effects may be long lasting and noise removal may not lead to immediate recovery. >>

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Jennifer N. Phillips, Sarah E. Termondt, Clinton D. Francis.  Long-term noise pollution affects seedling recruitment and community composition, with negative effects persisting after removal. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. doi: 10.1098/ rspb.2020.2906. Apr 14, 2021.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.2906

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keyword 'noise' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=noise

# gst: monkeyflower Mimulus code, with a simple spot generator inside

<< Many organisms exhibit visually striking spotted or striped pigmentation patterns. Developmental models predict that such spatial patterns can form when a local autocatalytic feedback loop and a long-range inhibitory feedback loop interact. At its simplest, this self-organizing network only requires one self-activating activator that also activates a repressor, which inhibits the activator and diffuses to neighboring cells. >>

Baoqing Ding, Erin L. Patterson, et al. 

Two MYB Proteins in a Self-Organizing Activator-Inhibitor System Produce Spotted Pigmentation Patterns. Current Biology.  Vol 30, Issue 5, P802-814.E8.  Mar 9, 2020.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31700-2

<< Patterns are everywhere in nature, not just color patterns but even how leaves are arranged on a stem, really anything with periodicity. Explaining these patterns could be similar in principle and that is what we're hoping to do, >> Yaowu Yuan

More clues for how the monkeyflower got its spots. University of Connecticut. Feb 20, 2020. 

https://m.phys.org/news/2020-02-clues-monkeyflower.html

# gst: apropos of 'fleeting (transient) interactions'

AA << captured highly transient interactions between transcription factors-proteins that control gene expression-and target genes in the genome and showed that these typically missed interactions have important practical implications. >>

<< Our approaches to capturing transient transcription factor-target interactions genome-wide can be applied to validate dynamic interactions of transcription factors for any pathway of interest in agriculture or medicine, >> Gloria Coruzzi. 

Biologists capture fleeting interactions between regulatory proteins and their genome-wide targets. New York University. Mar 2, 2020.

https://m.phys.org/news/2020-03-biologists-capture-fleeting-interactions-regulatory.html

José M. Alvarez, Anna-Lena Schinke, et al. Transient genome-wide interactions of the master transcription factor NLP7 initiate a rapid nitrogen-response cascade. Nat Commun 11, 1157. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-14979-6. Mar 2, 2020

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14979-6