̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - plant

Saffron: a Cambridge spice

sjr81 — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 15:08:30 +0000

An investigation into the local histories of saffron in Cambridgeshire.

Call of the wild collector

lw355 — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 06:00:53 +0000

Walking at ‘botanist pace’ on Mount Terror in South Africa, Dr Ángela Cano likes to stop and smell the succulents. She then measures, photographs, presses specimens and gathers seeds. Her work is helping to safeguard some of the rarest plants on Earth.

Metallic blue fruits use fat to produce colour and signal a treat for birds

sc604 — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 15:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��plant, Viburnum tinus, is an evergreen shrub widespread across the UK and the rest of Europe, which produces metallic blue fruits that are rich in fat. ̽��ֱ��combination of bright blue colour and high nutritional content make these fruits an irresistible treat for birds, likely increasing the spread of their seeds and contributing to the plant’s success.

̽��ֱ��researchers, led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, used electron microscopy to study the structure of these blue fruits. While there are other types of structural colour in nature – such as in peacock feathers and butterfly wings – this is the first time that such a structure has been found to incorporate fats, or lipids. ̽��ֱ��results are reported in the journal Current Biology.

“Viburnum tinus plants can be found in gardens and along the streets all over the UK and throughout much of Europe — most of us have seen them, even if we don’t realise how unusual the colour of the fruits is,” said co-first author Rox Middleton, who completed the research as part of her PhD at Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry.

Most colours in nature are due to pigments. However, some of the brightest and most colourful materials in nature – such as peacock feathers, butterfly wings and opals – get their colour not from pigments, but from their internal structure alone, a phenomenon known as structural colour. Depending on how these structures are arranged and how ordered they are, they can reflect certain colours, creating colour by the interaction between light and matter.

“I first noticed these bright blue fruits when I was visiting family in Florence,” said Dr Silvia Vignolini from Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry, who led the research. “I thought the colour was really interesting, but it was unclear what was causing it.”

“ ̽��ֱ��metallic sheen of the Viburnum fruits is highly unusual, so we used electron microscopy to study the structure of the cell wall,” said co-first author Miranda Sinnott-Armstrong from Yale ̽��ֱ��. “We found a structure unlike anything we’d ever seen before: layer after layer of small lipid droplets.”

̽��ֱ��lipid structures are incorporated into the cell wall of the outer skin, or epicarp, of the fruits. In addition, a layer of dark red anthocyanin pigments lies underneath the complex structure, and any light that is not reflected by the lipid structure is absorbed by the dark red pigment beneath. This prevents any backscattering of light, making the fruits appear even more blue.

̽��ֱ��researchers also used computer simulations to show that this type of structure can produce exactly the type of blue colour seen in the fruit of Viburnum. Structural colour is common in certain animals, especially birds, beetles, and butterflies, but only a handful of plant species have been found to have structurally coloured fruits.

While most fruits have low fat content, some – such as avocadoes, coconuts and olives – do contain lipids, providing an important, energy-dense food source for animals. This is not a direct benefit to the plant, but it can increase seed dispersal by attracting birds.

̽��ֱ��colour of the Viburnum tinus fruits may also serve as a signal of its nutritional content: a bird could look at a fruit and know whether it is rich in fat or in carbohydrates based on whether or not it is blue. In other words, the blue colour may serve as an ‘honest signal’ because the lipids produce both the signal (the colour) and the reward (the nutrition).

“Honest signals are rare in fruits as far as we know,” said Sinnott-Armstrong. “If the structural colour of Viburnum tinus fruits are in fact honest signals, it would be a really neat example where colour and nutrition come at least in part from the same source: lipids embedded in the cell wall. We’ve never seen anything like that before, and it will be interesting to see whether other structurally coloured fruits have similar nanostructures and similar nutritional content.”

One potential application for structural colour is that it removes the need for unusual or damaging chemical pigments – colour can instead be formed out of any material. “It’s exciting to see that principle in action – in this case the plant uses a potentially nutritious lipid to make a beautiful blue shimmer. It might inspire engineers to make double-use colours of our own,” said Middleton, who is now based at the ̽��ֱ�� of Bristol.

̽��ֱ��research was supported in part by the European Research Council, the EPSRC, the BBSRC and the NSF.

Reference:
Rox Middleton et al. ‘Viburnum tinus Fruits Use Lipid to produce Metallic Blue Structural Colour.’ Current Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.07.005

Researchers have found that a common plant owes the dazzling blue colour of its fruit to fat in its cellular structure, the first time this type of colour production has been observed in nature.

I first noticed these bright blue fruits when I was visiting family in Florence. I thought the colour was really interesting, but it was unclear what was causing it

Silvia Vignolini

What gives this metallic blue fruit its colour?

Rox Middleton

Viburnum tinus fruits

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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From foundry to factory: building synthetic plants

lw355 — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 09:32:42 +0000

Humans have been modifying plants for millennia, domesticating wild species and creating a bewildering array of crops. Modern agriculture allows global cultivation of plants at extremely low cost, with production on the gigatonne scale of a wide range of biostuffs – from fibres, wood, oils and sugar, to fine chemicals, drugs and food.

But, in the 21st century, we face both ever-increasing demand and the need to shift towards more sustainable production systems. Can we build new plants that make better materials, act as miniature ‘factories’ for food and fuel, and minimise the human impact on the environment?

With this in mind, synthetic biologists are beginning to build new organisms – or at least reprogramme existing organisms – by turning the biology lab into an engineering foundry.

Synthetic biologists choose a ‘chassis’ and then bolt on standard parts – such as genes, the promoters that activate them and the systems they drive – to build something that’s tailor-made. And, like open-source software programmers, they have been looking to open-access and the sharing of code – in this case the DNA that codes for each part – as a practical means of speeding up innovation.

“Providing free access to an inventory of molecular parts for use in the construction of diverse plant-based systems promotes their creative use by others, just as the open-source feature has driven innovation in the computer software industry,” explained Professor Sir David Baulcombe from Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences.

Earlier this year, the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and the John Innes Centre in Norwich received £12 million in funding for a new UK synthetic biology centre – OpenPlant – to focus on the development of open technologies in plant synthetic biology and their application in engineering new crop traits. ̽��ֱ��effort is being led by Baulcombe and Dr Jim Haseloff in Cambridge, and by Professors Dale Sanders and Anne Osbourn in Norwich.

It’s one of three new UK centres for synthetic biology that, over the next five years, will receive more than £40 million in funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

OpenPlant aims to establish the first UK open-source DNA registry for sharing specific plant parts. It will also support fundamental science: “Construction of these parts will allow us to test our understanding of natural plant systems in which assemblages of parts create a greater whole,” Baulcombe explained.

Researchers like Baulcombe and Haseloff, who also leads a new Strategic Research Initiative to advance cross-disciplinary research in synthetic biology in Cambridge, believe that the investment in the three new centres will help the UK stay at the leading edge of plant synthetic biology.

“Any large-scale reprogramming of living systems requires access to a large number of components and, as the number of these parts balloons, the cost of building a portfolio of patents, or licensing parts from patent owners, could strangle the industry and restrict innovation,” explained Haseloff.

“While US researchers lead in the synthetic biology of microbes, the UK has the edge in plants. ̽��ֱ��field needs a new two-tier system for intellectual property so that new tools including DNA components are freely shared, while investment in applications can be protected.”

As well as new DNA components, Haseloff and colleagues have been focusing on a new plant chassis. Rather like the frame of a car, the chassis is the body of the cell that houses the rest of the desired parts. And for this they have turned to liverworts, relics of the first land plants to evolve around 500 million years ago.

̽��ֱ��Marchantia polymorpha liverwort is small, grows rapidly, has a simple genetic architecture and is proving such a useful test-bed for developing new DNA circuits that Haseloff has launched a web-based resource (www.marchantia.org) for a growing international community to exchange ideas. ̽��ֱ��hub characterises one of the wider aims of OpenPlant in promoting interdisciplinary exchange between fundamental and applied sciences, and is one of a series of collaborative projects, such as OpenLabTools (see panel), which are promoting open technology, innovation and exchange between engineers and physical, biological and social scientists across the ̽��ֱ��.

In parallel with the development of standardised parts, the Centre will support around 20 researchers and their teams in Cambridge and Norwich who are engineering new plant traits. For instance, scientists at the John Innes Centre are investigating new systems for producing useful compounds like vaccines. In Cambridge, researchers are creating systems with altered photosynthetic capabilities and leaf structure to boost conversion of the sun’s energy into food, as well as developing plant-based photovoltaics for fuel.

Another of OpenPlant’s aims is to foster debate on the wider implications of the technology at local and global scales. As Baulcombe described, “ ̽��ֱ��open source feature may allow straightforward discussion about the applications of synthetic biology in plants. Societal discussion about other strands of biotechnology has been greatly hampered by the complications following from intellectual property restrictions.”

“We think that biological technologies are the underpinning of the 21st-century’s industrial processes,” added Haseloff. “Plants are cheap and inherently sustainable, and have a major role to play in our future.

In order to implement ideas and shift towards more rational design principles to support advances, we need to have the ability to exploit synthetic biology technologies in a responsive way, and that’s where we see OpenPlant contributing in the years to come.”

Inset images: Marchantia - a primitive plant form used as the 'chassis' for designing new plants. Credit: Jim Haseloff.

A movement is under way that will fast-forward the design of new plant traits. It takes inspiration from engineering and the software industry, and is being underpinned in Cambridge and Norwich by an initiative called OpenPlant.

Plants are cheap and inherently sustainable, and have a major role to play in our future

Jim Haseloff

Marchantia - a primitive plant form used as the 'chassis' for designing new plants

OpenLabTools

OpenPlant is part of a wider move towards ‘sharing’ in Cambridge that now includes scientific tools of the trade.

Resourcing laboratories with scientific tools is a costly business. An automated microscope, for instance, could cost upwards of £75,000, and yet be a key tool in materials and biological laboratories.

Now, an initiative coordinated by Dr Alexandre Kabla, from the Department of Engineering, is rethinking how scientists can access the tools that they need at a less-prohibitive cost.

He recognised that a wealth of instrument-building know-how exists across the ̽��ֱ�� – expertise that could be drawn on to develop a suite of low-cost open-access scientific tools.

Raspberry Pi, for example, was conceived and incubated in the Computer Laboratory to encourage children to learn programming for themselves: this credit-card-sized computer is now available for only $25.

̽��ֱ��OpenLabTools initiative has set itself the task of creating high-end tools such as microscopes, 3D printers, rigs for automation and sensors, with an emphasis on undergraduate and graduate teaching and research. It was created with funding from the ̽��ֱ�� and the Raspberry Pi Foundation, and is supported by an academic team of engineers, physicists, materials scientists, plant biologists and computer scientists.

“Current projects primarily focus on the development of core components, thanks to the contributions of a team of physics and engineering students. However, we have already made significant progress towards the development of imaging systems and mechanical testing devices,” said Kabla, whose own expertise lies in the physics and mechanics of biological systems. “We anticipate that these will be rolled out in undergraduate laboratories sometime next year.”

To encourage open access, ‘How To’ manuals and designs are being published on the OpenLabTools website.

“It’s an exciting prospect,” said Kabla. “When you consider that consumer-grade low-cost microscopes are essentially a digital camera with a high magnification objective, not only can we build this but we can also provide a means to automate the microscopy, dramatically reducing the cost of the tool. ̽��ֱ��blueprints and tutorials we make available will be useful for undergraduate and research projects, as well as school activities and small-scale industrial applications running on a tight budget.”

www.openlabtools.org

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Yes

Researchers show how plants tell the time

sj387 — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Plants, like animals, have a 24 hour 'body-clock' known as the circadian rhythm. This biological timer gives plants an innate ability to measure time, even when there is no light - they don’t simply respond to sunrise, for example, they know it is coming and adjust their biology accordingly. This ability to keep time provides an important competitive advantage and is vital in biological processes such as flowering, fragrance emission and leaf movement.

BBSRC-funded scientists from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Department of Plant Sciences, are studying how plants are able to set and maintain this internal clock. They have found that the sugars produced by plants are key to timekeeping.

Plants produce sugar via photosynthesis; it is their way of converting the sun’s energy into a usable chemical form needed for growth and function.

This new research has shown that these sugars also play a role in circadian rhythms. Researchers studied the effects of these sugars by monitoring seedlings in CO2-free air, to inhibit photosynthesis, and by growing genetically altered plants and monitoring their biology. ̽��ֱ��production of sugars was found to regulate key genes responsible for the 24 hour rhythm.

Dr Alex Webb, lead researcher at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, explains: “Our research shows that sugar levels within a plant play a vital role in synchronizing circadian rhythms with its surrounding environment. Inhibiting photosynthesis, for example, slowed the plants internal clock by between 2 and 3 hours.”

̽��ֱ��research shows that photosynthesis has a profound effect on setting and maintaining robust circadian rhythms in Arabidopsis plants, demonstrating a critical role for metabolism in regulation of the circadian clock.

Dr Mike Haydon, who performed much of the research and is now at the ̽��ֱ�� of York added: “ ̽��ֱ��accumulation of sugar within the plant provides a kind of feedback for the circadian cycle in plants – a bit like resetting a stopwatch. We think this might be a way of telling the plant that energy in the form of sugars is available to perform important metabolic tasks. This mirrors research that has previously shown that feeding times can influence the phase of peripheral clocks in animals.”

Article credited to Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

Plants use sugars to tell the time of day, according to research published in Nature today.

Our research shows that sugar levels within a plant play a vital role in synchronizing circadian rhythms with its surrounding environment

Alex Webb

Jucember

Arabidopsis Thaliana planted in Laboratory

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Yes

Plants and patterning: how shapes are made

amb206 — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Plants come in a fabulous array of shapes and sizes – from the tiny moss to the huge oak, from the tree-like structure to the delicate beauty of orchids. All these living things start with a single cell. How does this variety happen and what can we learn from it?

̽��ֱ��tiny molecular mechanisms that determine the forms of plants lie in the cell wall, the strong fibrous material that surrounds each cell. ̽��ֱ��cell wall and its shape give the plant its shape, allowing it to grow upwards, outwards and downwards in certain ways so that the resulting plant has the characteristic shape we associate with it, whether a twining vine or a giant Redwood.

In a talk this Wednesday (13 March) evening, taking place as part of Cambridge Science Festival, molecular biologist Dr Siobhan Braybrook will explore how plants grow shapes by following an intricate process of patterning – as cells multiply and build the structures that make up their component parts. In particular, she will look at the mathematics, physics, and chemistry that underlie this patterning, including the development of Fibonacci patterns in plants.

̽��ֱ��lecture – titled ‘Biological design: the history and future of plant architecture’ - will give an overview of the fundamental processes of plant growth – and explore what we know, how we make use of this knowledge in agriculture, and what remains to be discovered.

Dr Braybrook will then go on to discuss how mankind has domesticated crops – such as maize – to produce higher yields. Research can contribute to this process by providing a better understanding of plant shape and form as a basis for future crop breeding.

Finally, she will look at the exciting possibilities that exist in developing new technologies – and smart materials in particular – that mimic the structures and mechanisms in plants. “ ̽��ֱ��ways in which plants grow and make use of the environment around them with a minimal output of energy represent huge potential for exploring new technologies,” she said.

“For example, we can look at how fig bark self-heals using latex, how wax coating on leaves protects them from water, how spores walk and jump, and how the hinges of the Venus fly trap are perfectly balanced to snap shut.”

Dr Braybrook leads a research group at Cambridge ̽��ֱ��’s Sainsbury Laboratory, an interdisciplinary research centre dedicated to understanding plant development. Its teams include physicists, computer scientists, geneticists, molecular biologists, mathematicians and biochemists.

“We look at development in plants from a set of unique viewpoints to explore the new frontiers of plant science,” says Dr Braybrook. “My own area of expertise within this broad spectrum is to contribute to understanding the plant as a growing material, and I’m keen to put this across to the public in an accessible and entertaining way, while not forgetting that plants are vital to life.”

‘Biological design: the history and future of plant architecture’ will take place at the Sainsbury Laboratory on Wednesday 13 March, 7.30-8.30pm. ̽��ֱ��free talk is suitable for ages 16 and upwards. Advance booking essential: http://www.cam.ac.uk/sciencefestival/events/

A Cambridge Science Festival lecture on Wednesday (13 March 2013) will look at how plants grow through repeating patterns and discuss what we can learn from them in developing smart materials.

We can look at how fig bark self-heals using latex, how wax coating on leaves protects them from water, how spores walk and jump.

Dr Siobhan Braybrook

Siobhan Braybrook

Scanning electron micrograph image of sunflower head developing.

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Yes

African fruit ‘brightest’ thing in nature but does not use pigment to create its extraordinary colour

bjb42 — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:00:30 +0000

̽��ֱ��‘brightest’ thing in nature, the Pollia condensata fruit, does not get its blue colour from pigment but instead uses structural colour – a method of reflecting light of particular wavelengths- new research reveals. ̽��ֱ��study was published today in the journal PNAS.

Most colours around us are the result of pigments. However, a few examples in nature - including the peacock, the scarab beetle and now the Pollia condensata fruit – use structural colour as well.

Fruits are made of cells, each of which is surrounded by a cell wall containing cellulose. However, the researchers found that in the Pollia condensata fruit the cellulose is laid down in layers, forming a chiral (asymmetrical) structure that is able to interact with light and provide selective reflection of only a specific colour. As a result of this unique structure, it reflects predominately blue light.

̽��ֱ��scientists also discovered that each individual cell generates colour independently, producing a pixelated or pointillist effect (like those in the paintings of Seurat). This colour is produced by the reflection of light of particular wavelengths from layers of cellulose in the cell wall. ̽��ֱ��thickness of the layers determines which wavelength of light is reflected. As a result, some cells have thinner layers and reflect blue; others have thicker layers and reflect green or red.

̽��ֱ��researchers believe that the plants invest in the complicated colouring structure as a mechanism for seed dispersal. Although the Pollia fruit does not provide any nutritional value, birds are attracted to its bright colouring – possibly as a means of decorating their nests or impressing their mates.

Dr Beverley Glover from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences, who jointly led the research, said: “This obscure little plant has hit on a fantastic way of making an irresistible shiny, sparkly, multi-coloured, iridescent signal to every bird in the vicinity, without wasting any of its precious photosynthetic reserves on bird food. Evolution is very smart!”

Because of how it is created, the colour of the Pollia condensata fruit does not fade. ̽��ֱ��researchers found that samples of the fruit in herbarium collections dating back to the 19^th century were as colourful and shiny as ones grown today.

Dr Silvia Vignolini, lead author on the paper from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s Department of Physics, said: “By taking inspiration from nature, it is possible to obtain smart multifunctional materials using sustainable routes with abundant and cheap materials like cellulose.

“We believe that using cellulose to create coloured materials can lead to many industrial applications. As an example, edible cellulose-based nanostructures with structural colour can be used as substitutes for toxic dyes and colorants in food. Moreover, the fact that the processes involved in cellulose extraction and manipulation are already used in the paper industry facilitates the use of such materials for industrial applications such as security labelling or cosmetics.”

̽��ֱ��research was supported by the Leverhulme Trust with some funding provided by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Listen to an interview with Beverley Glover on the Naked Scientists about the research.

Unique blue fruit’s colour does not fade even after a century

This obscure little plant has hit on a fantastic way of making an irresistible shiny, sparkly, multi-coloured, iridescent signal to every bird in the vicinity.

Beverley Glover

Silvia Vignolini

Pollia condensata fruit

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Yes