inuous veins for auxin to run through. But the research team showed that the leaves with the dotted veins were a mature version and that at an earlier stage, the veins were continuous and did act as transporters. "We didn't have the technology to see those early stages before and now we do," he said. "We now know that the veins are the backbone of the leaf and are somehow responsible for the final shape of the plant."

But one of the biggest discoveries, perhaps the one with the most evolutionary implications, is that plants use the same mechanism to regulate vein formation in the leaf and branch formation on the main trunk and on the main root. The finding that the leaf is like a two-dimensional model of a tree may change the way plant scientists work, says Scarpella. "If each leaf can make more than 100 veins, you can see the process over and over compared to the formation of branches in a big, three-dimensional slowly growing tree or the difficulties in studying root branching in their natural environment, which is the dirt," he said. "Our findings will contribute to the way we will manipulate plant development to our advantage. Once we know all the players in the game we will be able to say, we want more leaves on this, more branches on this one or fewer flowers on this plant."

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Contact: Phoebe Dey
phoebe.dey@ualberta.ca
780-492-0437
University of Alberta
15-Jun-2006

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