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SUMMARY:Developmental patterning of head-like inflorescences in Asteraceae
   - Paula Elomaa\,University of Helsinki 
DTSTART:20250224T143000Z
DTEND:20250224T153000Z
UID:TALK225511@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jia CHEN
DESCRIPTION:Have you ever wondered what the spirals in sunflower heads are
  and how they emerge? Flower heads (i.e. inflorescences) in the sunflower 
 family\, Asteraceae\, are iconic examples of geometric beauty found in nat
 ure. They superficially mimic solitary flowers but are in fact tightly pac
 ked structures\, often composed of tens or hundreds of florets. The indivi
 dual florets emerge on an enlarged meristem in regular left and right wind
 ing spirals whose numbers follow the two consecutive numbers in a mathemat
 ical Fibonacci sequence. My focus here is on molecular level studies to un
 derstand phyllotactic patterning of flower heads. Using the DR5 auxin repo
 rter lines of the model plant Gerbera hybrida\, we have shown how patterni
 ng is established de novo at early stages of meristem development and how 
 the expansion growth of the meristem drives the emergence of high spiral n
 umbers. The molecular data has been integrated into a computational model 
 that was extended also to cases of non-circular (fasciated) heads. We have
  also applied synchrotron-based micro-CT imaging to explore the role vascu
 lar networks on patterning. Additionally\, I will discuss how our work con
 tributes to understanding of the evolutionary origin of capitula. 
LOCATION:Online
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