Annals of Botany🌿🔬 Join us to learn about the newly published paper ‘Living jewels: iterative evolution of iridescent blue leaves from helicoidal cell walls’ in @AnnBot by Clive Lundquist and co-authors. (1/7)
The research explores the stunning metallic blue coloration in plant leaves, driven by structural color. Previous studies focused on just ten genera, uncovering four photonic structures responsible for blue leaves. (2/7)
Now, scientists widen the scope, delving into a diverse range of land plants to map out the phylogenetic distribution of a specific photonic structure: the helicoidal cell wall. This structure is known to create the mesmerizing blue hues in leaf cells. (3/7)
Using transmission electron microscopy, researchers identified helicoidal structures in leaf epidermal cells of 19 species. They meticulously compared pitch measurements of helicoids with the reflectance spectra of circularly polarized light to confirm the link. (4/7)
By incorporating species examined with a polarizing filter, the study expands the list of taxa with photonic helicoidal cell walls to species from at least 35 genera. This includes a wide array of monocots and ferns. (5/7)
Monocots from Asparagales and Poales, including Orchidaceae and Cyperaceae, and ferns from Marattiales, Schizaeales, and Polypodiales, are among the newfound genera with this striking feature. (6/7)
🌱🧪The article enriches our understanding of plants with structurally colored leaves. It highlights the iterative evolution of photonic helicoidal walls across diverse plant lineages, particularly centered on ferns and monocots. 7/7