TY - JOUR
T1 - Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) Development in Time
T2 - How Differential Parenchyma Tissue Growth Affects Leafy Head Formation
AU - Liu, Zihan
AU - Alemán-Báez, Jorge
AU - Visser, Richard G.F.
AU - Bonnema, Guusje
PY - 2024/3
Y1 - 2024/3
N2 - This study aims to categorize the morphological changes during cabbage (B. oleracea ssp. capitata) development, seedling, rosette, folding, and heading, and to elucidate the cellular mechanisms of the leaf curvature, essential for the formation of the leafy head. We followed the growth of two cabbage cultivars with distinct head shapes (round and pointed) and one non-heading collard cultivar; we phenotyped the size and volume of the whole plant as well as the size, shape, and curvature of the leaves during growth. By integrating these phenotypic data, we determined the four vegetative stages for both cabbages. The histological phenotypes of microtome sections from five distinct leaf positions of the rosette, folding, and heading leaves at two timepoints during leaf growth were quantified and revealed variations in cellular parameters among leaf types, between leaf positions, and between the adaxial and abaxial sides. We identified two synergistic cellular mechanisms contributing to the curvature of heading leaves: differential growth across the leaf blade, with increased growth at the leaf’s center relative to the margins; and the increased expansion of the spongy parenchyma layer compared to the palisade parenchyma layer, resulting in the direction of the curvature, which is inwards. These two processes together contribute to the typical leafy heads of cabbages.
AB - This study aims to categorize the morphological changes during cabbage (B. oleracea ssp. capitata) development, seedling, rosette, folding, and heading, and to elucidate the cellular mechanisms of the leaf curvature, essential for the formation of the leafy head. We followed the growth of two cabbage cultivars with distinct head shapes (round and pointed) and one non-heading collard cultivar; we phenotyped the size and volume of the whole plant as well as the size, shape, and curvature of the leaves during growth. By integrating these phenotypic data, we determined the four vegetative stages for both cabbages. The histological phenotypes of microtome sections from five distinct leaf positions of the rosette, folding, and heading leaves at two timepoints during leaf growth were quantified and revealed variations in cellular parameters among leaf types, between leaf positions, and between the adaxial and abaxial sides. We identified two synergistic cellular mechanisms contributing to the curvature of heading leaves: differential growth across the leaf blade, with increased growth at the leaf’s center relative to the margins; and the increased expansion of the spongy parenchyma layer compared to the palisade parenchyma layer, resulting in the direction of the curvature, which is inwards. These two processes together contribute to the typical leafy heads of cabbages.
KW - abaxial/adaxial differential growth
KW - Brassica oleracea
KW - cabbage
KW - heading leaves
KW - leaf curvature
KW - palisade parenchyma
KW - rosette leaves
KW - spongy parenchyma
U2 - 10.3390/plants13050656
DO - 10.3390/plants13050656
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85187425016
SN - 2223-7747
VL - 13
JO - Plants
JF - Plants
IS - 5
M1 - 656
ER -