Bucksch Alexander, Atta-Boateng Acheampong, Azihou Akomian F, Battogtokh Dorjsuren, Baumgartner Aly, Binder Brad M, Braybrook Siobhan A, Chang Cynthia, Coneva Viktoirya, DeWitt Thomas J, Fletcher Alexander G, Gehan Malia A, Diaz-Martinez Diego Hernan, Hong Lilan, Iyer-Pascuzzi Anjali S, Klein Laura L, Leiboff Samuel, Li Mao, Lynch Jonathan P, Maizel Alexis, Maloof Julin N, Markelz R J Cody, Martinez Ciera C, Miller Laura A, Mio Washington, Palubicki Wojtek, Poorter Hendrik, Pradal Christophe, Price Charles A, Puttonen Eetu, Reese John B, Rellán-Álvarez Rubén, Spalding Edgar P, Sparks Erin E, Topp Christopher N, Williams Joseph H, Chitwood Daniel H
Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, AthensGA, United States.
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, AthensGA, United States.
Front Plant Sci. 2017 Jun 9;8:900. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.00900. eCollection 2017.
The geometries and topologies of leaves, flowers, roots, shoots, and their arrangements have fascinated plant biologists and mathematicians alike. As such, plant morphology is inherently mathematical in that it describes plant form and architecture with geometrical and topological techniques. Gaining an understanding of how to modify plant morphology, through molecular biology and breeding, aided by a mathematical perspective, is critical to improving agriculture, and the monitoring of ecosystems is vital to modeling a future with fewer natural resources. In this white paper, we begin with an overview in quantifying the form of plants and mathematical models of patterning in plants. We then explore the fundamental challenges that remain unanswered concerning plant morphology, from the barriers preventing the prediction of phenotype from genotype to modeling the movement of leaves in air streams. We end with a discussion concerning the education of plant morphology synthesizing biological and mathematical approaches and ways to facilitate research advances through outreach, cross-disciplinary training, and open science. Unleashing the potential of geometric and topological approaches in the plant sciences promises to transform our understanding of both plants and mathematics.
叶片、花朵、根系、茎干的几何形状、拓扑结构及其排列方式，一直吸引着植物生物学家和数学家。因此，植物形态学本质上具有数学性，因为它运用几何和拓扑技术来描述植物的形态和结构。借助数学视角，通过分子生物学和育种来了解如何改变植物形态，对于改善农业至关重要，而对生态系统的监测对于构建自然资源减少的未来模型也至关重要。在本白皮书中，我们首先概述了植物形态量化以及植物图案形成的数学模型。然后，我们探讨了植物形态学中尚未得到解答的基本挑战，从阻止从基因型预测表型的障碍到模拟气流中叶片的运动。最后，我们讨论了植物形态学教育，综合生物学和数学方法，以及通过推广、跨学科培训和开放科学促进研究进展的方法。释放植物科学中几何和拓扑方法的潜力，有望改变我们对植物和数学的理解。
