Tendril

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A curling tendril Vine.jpg
A curling tendril

In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as Cuscuta . [1] There are many plants that have tendrils; including sweet peas, passionflower, grapes and the Chilean glory-flower. [2] Tendrils respond to touch and to chemical factors by curling, twining, or adhering to suitable structures or hosts. Tendrils vary greatly in size from a few centimeters up to 27 inches (69 centimeters) for Nepenthes harryana [3] The chestnut vine ( Tetrastigma voinierianum ) can have tendrils up to 20.5 inches (52 centimeters) in length. Normally there is only one simple or branched tendril at each node (see plant stem), but the aardvark cucumber ( Cucumis humifructus ) can have as many as eight. [4]

Contents

History

The earliest and most comprehensive study of tendrils was Charles Darwin's monograph On the Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants, which was originally published in 1865. This work also coined the term circumnutation to describe the motion of growing stems and tendrils seeking supports. Darwin also observed the phenomenon now known as tendril perversion, in which tendrils adopt the shape of two sections of counter-twisted helices with a transition in the middle. [5]

Biology of tendrils

In the garden pea, it is only the terminal leaflets that are modified to become tendrils. In other plants such as the yellow vetch ( Lathyrus aphaca ), the whole leaf is modified to become tendrils while the stipules become enlarged and carry out photosynthesis. Still others use the rachis of a compound leaf as a tendril, such as members of the genus Clematis .

Tendril of a common climbing plant Tendril of climbing plant.jpg
Tendril of a common climbing plant

The specialised pitcher traps of Nepenthes plants form on the end of tendrils. The tendrils of aerial pitchers are usually coiled in the middle. If the tendril comes into contact with an object for long enough it will usually curl around it, forming a strong anchor point for the pitcher. In this way, the tendrils help to support the growing stem of the plant. [6] Tendrils of Cuscuta , a parasitic plant, are guided by airborne chemicals, and only twine around suitable hosts.

Evolution and species

Climbing habits in plants support themselves to reach the canopy in order to receive more sunlight resources and increase the diversification in flowering plants. [7] Tendril is a plant organ that is derived from various morphological structures such as stems, leaves and inflorescences. Even though climbing habits are involved in the angiosperms, gymnosperms, and fern, [8] tendrils are often shown in angiosperms and little in fern. Based on their molecular basis of tendril development, studies showed that tendrils helical growth performance is not correlated with ontogenetic origin, [9] instead, there are multiple ontogenetic origins. 17 types tendrils have been identified by their ontogenetic origins and growth pattern, and each type of tendrils can be involved more than once within angiosperms. Common fruits and vegetables that have of tendrils includes watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)'s derived from modified stem, pea (Pisum sativum)'s derived from modified terminal leaflets and common grape vine (Vitis vinifera)'s is modified from whole inflorescence. [10]

Coiling mechanism

Circumnutation

The mechanism of tendril coiling begins with circumnutation of the tendril in which it is moving and growing in a circular oscillatory pattern around its axis. [11] Circumnutation is often defined as the first main movement of the tendril, and it serves the purpose of increasing the chance that the plant will come in contact with a support system (physical structure for the tendril to coil around). [12] In a 2019 study done by Guerra et al., it was shown that without a support stimulus, in this case a stake in the ground, the tendrils will circumnutate towards a light stimulus. After many attempts to reach a support structure, the tendril will eventually fall to the ground. [13] However, it was found that when a support stimulus is present, the tendril’s circumnutation oscillation occurs in the direction of the support stimulus. Therefore, it was concluded that tendrils are able to change the direction of their circumnutation based on the presence of a support stimulus. [13] It is important to note that the process of circumnutation in plants is not unique to tendril plants, as almost all plant species show circumnutation behaviors. [11]

Contact coiling

Thigmotropism is the basis of the input signal in the tendril coiling mechanism. For example, pea tendrils have highly sensitive cells in the surfaces of cell walls that are exposed. These sensitized cells are the ones that initiate the thigmotropic signal, typically as a calcium wave. [14] The primary touch signal induces a signaling cascade of other phytohormones, most notably gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and Jasmonate (JA). In grapevine tendrils, it recently has been shown that GABA can independently promote tendril coiling. It has also been shown that jasmonate phytohormones serve as a hormonal signal to initiate tendril coiling. [15] This cascade can activate plasma membrane H+-ATPase, which also plays a role in the contact coiling mechanism as a proton pump. This pump activity establishes an electrochemical of H+ ions from inside the cell to the apoplast, which in turn creates an osmotic gradient. This leads to loss of turgor pressure; the differences in cell size due to the loss of turgor pressure in some cells creates the coiling response. [16] This contractile movement is also influenced by gelatinous fibers, which contract and lignify in response to the thigmotropic signal cascade. [17]

Self-discrimination

Although tendrils twine around hosts based on touch perception, plants have a form of self-discrimination [18] and avoid twining around themselves or neighboring plants of the same species –demonstrating chemotropism based on chemoreception. [19] Once a tendril comes in contact with a neighboring conspecific plant (of the same species) signaling molecules released by the host plant bind to chemoreceptors on the climbing plant’s tendrils. This generates a signal that prevents the thigmotropic pathway and therefore prevents the tendril from coiling around that host. [18]

Studies confirming this pathway have been performed on the climbing plant Cayratia japonica . Research demonstrated that when two C. japonica plants were placed in physical contact, the tendrils would not coil around the conspecific plant. Researchers tested this interaction by isolating oxalate crystals from the leaves of a C. japonica plant and coating a stick with the oxalate crystals. The tendrils of C. japonica plants that came in physical contact with the oxalate-coated stick would not coil, confirming that climbing plants use chemoreception for self-discrimination. [19]

Self-discrimination may confer an evolutionary advantage for climbing plants to avoid coiling around conspecific plants. This is because neighboring climbing plants do not provide as stable of structures to coil around when compared to more rigid nearby plants. Furthermore, by being able to recognize and avoid coiling around conspecific plants, the plants reduce their proximity to competition, allowing them to have access to more resources and therefore better growth. [18]

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Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae, commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs, grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of broad-leaved trees, shrubs and vines, and most aquatic plants. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ἀγγεῖον / angeion and σπέρμα / sperma ('seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit. They are by far the most diverse group of land plants with 64 orders, 416 families, approximately 13,000 known genera and 300,000 known species. Angiosperms were formerly called Magnoliophyta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vine</span> Plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent stems or runners

A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent stems, lianas, or runners. The word vine can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.

<i>Nepenthes</i> Tropical pitcher plants

Nepenthes is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are mostly liana-forming plants of the Old World tropics, ranging from South China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines; westward to Madagascar and the Seychelles (one); southward to Australia (four) and New Caledonia (one); and northward to India (one) and Sri Lanka (one). The greatest diversity occurs on Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines, with many endemic species. Many are plants of hot, humid, lowland areas, but the majority are tropical montane plants, receiving warm days but cool to cold, humid nights year round. A few are considered tropical alpine, with cool days and nights near freezing. The name "monkey cups" refers to the fact that monkeys were once thought to drink rainwater from the pitchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thigmotropism</span> Directed growth of plants in response to touch

In plant biology, thigmotropism is a directional growth movement which occurs as a mechanosensory response to a touch stimulus. Thigmotropism is typically found in twining plants and tendrils, however plant biologists have also found thigmotropic responses in flowering plants and fungi. This behavior occurs due to unilateral growth inhibition. That is, the growth rate on the side of the stem which is being touched is slower than on the side opposite the touch. The resultant growth pattern is to attach and sometimes curl around the object which is touching the plant. However, flowering plants have also been observed to move or grow their sex organs toward a pollinator that lands on the flower, as in Portulaca grandiflora.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasmonic acid</span> Chemical compound

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thigmonasty</span> Undirected movement in response to touch or vibration

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nutation (botany)</span> Term in botany

Nutation refers to the bending movements of stems, roots, leaves and other plant organs caused by differences in growth in different parts of the organ. Circumnutation refers specifically to the circular movements often exhibited by the tips of growing plant stems, caused by repeating cycles of differences in growth around the sides of the elongating stem. Nutational movements are usually distinguished from 'variational' movements caused by temporary differences in the water pressure inside plant cells (turgor).

Important structures in plant development are buds, shoots, roots, leaves, and flowers; plants produce these tissues and structures throughout their life from meristems located at the tips of organs, or between mature tissues. Thus, a living plant always has embryonic tissues. By contrast, an animal embryo will very early produce all of the body parts that it will ever have in its life. When the animal is born, it has all its body parts and from that point will only grow larger and more mature. However, both plants and animals pass through a phylotypic stage that evolved independently and that causes a developmental constraint limiting morphological diversification.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerial stem modification</span> Change in the structure of the stem allowing a plant to adapt to different environmental conditions

Introduction

<i>Nepenthes abgracilis</i> Species of pitcher plant from the Philippines

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References

  1. ↑ "Plants: A Different Perspective". content.yudu.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-17. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  2. ↑ "How Plants Climb - Climbing Plants & Vines | Gardener's Supply". www.gardeners.com. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  3. ↑ Kurata, Shigeo (1976). Nepenthes of Mount Kinabalu. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia: National Parks Trust. p. 47.
  4. ↑ Kilbride Jr., Joseph H. (1993). Biosystematic Monograph of the Genus Cucumis. Bonne, No. Carolina: Parkway Publishers. p. 77.
  5. ↑ Charles Darwin, "On the movements and habits of climbing plants", Journal of the Linnean Society, 1865.
  6. ↑ Clarke, C.M. 1997. Nepenthes of Borneo. Natural History Publications, Kota Kinabalu.
  7. ↑ Gianoli, Ernesto (2004-10-07). "Evolution of a climbing habit promotes diversification in flowering plants". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. 271 (1552): 2011–2015. doi:10.1098/rspb.2004.2827. PMC   1691831 . PMID   15451690.
  8. ↑ Isnard, Sandrine; Feild, Taylor S. (2015), "The evolution of angiosperm lianescence: a perspective from xylem structure-function", Ecology of Lianas, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp. 221–238, doi:10.1002/9781118392409.ch17, ISBN   978-1-118-39240-9 , retrieved 2021-06-05
  9. ↑ Sousa-Baena, Mariane S.; Lohmann, Lúcia G.; Hernandes-Lopes, José; Sinha, Neelima R. (2018). "The molecular control of tendril development in angiosperms". New Phytologist. 218 (3): 944–958. doi: 10.1111/nph.15073 . ISSN   1469-8137. PMID   29520789. S2CID   4860319.
  10. ↑ Sousa-Baena, Mariane S.; Sinha, Neelima R.; Hernandes-Lopes, José; Lohmann, Lúcia G. (2018). "Convergent Evolution and the Diverse Ontogenetic Origins of Tendrils in Angiosperms". Frontiers in Plant Science. 9: 403. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2018.00403 . ISSN   1664-462X. PMC   5891604 . PMID   29666627.
  11. 1 2 Kiss, John Z. (2009). "Plants circling in outer space". New Phytologist. 182 (3): 555–557. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.02817.x . ISSN   1469-8137. PMID   19422543.
  12. ↑ Malabarba, Jaiana; Reichelt, Michael; Pasquali, Giancarlo; Mithöfer, Axel (2019-03-01). "Tendril Coiling in Grapevine: Jasmonates and a New Role for GABA?". Journal of Plant Growth Regulation. 38 (1): 39–45. doi:10.1007/s00344-018-9807-x. hdl: 21.11116/0000-0001-1BB3-7 . ISSN   1435-8107. S2CID   13792885.
  13. 1 2 Guerra, Silvia; Peressotti, Alessandro; Peressotti, Francesca; Bulgheroni, Maria; Baccinelli, Walter; D’Amico, Enrico; Gómez, Alejandra; Massaccesi, Stefano; Ceccarini, Francesco; Castiello, Umberto (2019-11-12). "Flexible control of movement in plants". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 16570. Bibcode:2019NatSR...916570G. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-53118-0. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   6851115 . PMID   31719580.
  14. ↑ Jaffe, M. J.; Leopold, A. C.; Staples, R. C. (2002-03-01). "Thigmo responses in plants and fungi". American Journal of Botany. 89 (3): 375–382. doi: 10.3732/ajb.89.3.375 . ISSN   0002-9122. PMID   21665632.
  15. ↑ Malabarba, Jaiana; Reichelt, Michael; Pasquali, Giancarlo; Mithöfer, Axel (March 2019). "Tendril Coiling in Grapevine: Jasmonates and a New Role for GABA?". Journal of Plant Growth Regulation. 38 (1): 39–45. doi:10.1007/s00344-018-9807-x. hdl: 21.11116/0000-0001-1BB3-7 . ISSN   0721-7595. S2CID   13792885.
  16. ↑ Jaffe, M. J.; Galston, A. W. (1968-04-01). "Physiological Studies on Pea Tendrils. V. Membrane Changes and Water Movement Associated with Contact Coiling". Plant Physiology. 43 (4): 537–542. doi:10.1104/pp.43.4.537. ISSN   0032-0889. PMC   1086884 . PMID   16656803.
  17. ↑ Bowling, Andrew J.; Vaughn, Kevin C. (April 2009). "Gelatinous fibers are widespread in coiling tendrils and twining vines". American Journal of Botany. 96 (4): 719–727. doi: 10.3732/ajb.0800373 . PMID   21628227.
  18. 1 2 3 Fukano, Yuya; Yamawo, Akira (26 August 2015). "Self-discrimination in the tendrils of the vine is mediated by physiological connection". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 282 (1814): 20151379. doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.1379. PMC   4571702 . PMID   26311669.
  19. 1 2 Fukano, Yuya (15 March 2017). "Vine tendrils use contact chemoreception to avoid conspecific leaves". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1850): 20162650. doi:10.1098/rspb.2016.2650. PMC   5360923 . PMID   28250182.
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