The whirling green cones that make up the head of Romanesco cauliflower produce a fractal design
The whirling green cones that make up the head of Romanesco cauliflower produce a fractal design, which repeats itself on many scales. Researchers announced in the July 9 issue of Science that the genes underlying this astonishing structure had been discovered. The fractal pattern has been recreated in a typical lab plant, Arabidopsis thaliana.
“Romanesco is one of the most visible fractal patterns in nature,” says Christophe Godin, a computer expert at the NIR in Digital Science and Technology based at ENS de Lyon in France. “The question is, why is it the case?” Scientists have been unable to find an explanation for a long time. Godin and his colleagues were aware that one Arabidopsis variety was capable of producing tiny cauliflower-like structures.
As a result, the researchers altered the genes of A. thaliana in both computer simulations and in-lab growth trials. Working with the well-studied plant assisted the researchers in simplifying their tests and distilling the fundamental fractal-spawning process. The researchers created a Romanesco-like head-on A. thaliana by modifying three genes. Two of the genetic changes hindered flower development and caused uncontrolled shoot growth. According to plant scientists, instead of a bloom, the plant produces a shoot, and on that shoot, it grows another node, and so on.
The researchers then changed another gene, increasing the growth area at the end of each sprout and allowing swirling conical fractals to develop. “You don’t have to do much to modify the DNA to get this shape to appear,” Percy adds. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, there are fewer greenhouse visits these days. Even if you’re socially isolated or live far away from New York City, you can still catch a peek of the stinky flower (and avoid its potent stench) by checking in to the greenhouse’s live stream right here. The stream began on May 27 when the corpse plant bloomed.
This article is curated by Prittle Prattle News.
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