Liu, Z.; Alemán-Báez, J.; Visser, R.G.F.; Bonnema, G. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) Development in Time: How Differential Parenchyma Tissue Growth Affects Leafy Head Formation. Plants2024, 13, 656.
Liu, Z.; Alemán-Báez, J.; Visser, R.G.F.; Bonnema, G. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) Development in Time: How Differential Parenchyma Tissue Growth Affects Leafy Head Formation. Plants 2024, 13, 656.
Liu, Z.; Alemán-Báez, J.; Visser, R.G.F.; Bonnema, G. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) Development in Time: How Differential Parenchyma Tissue Growth Affects Leafy Head Formation. Plants2024, 13, 656.
Liu, Z.; Alemán-Báez, J.; Visser, R.G.F.; Bonnema, G. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) Development in Time: How Differential Parenchyma Tissue Growth Affects Leafy Head Formation. Plants 2024, 13, 656.
Abstract
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 leaf curvature, essential for the formation of the leafy head. We followed the growth of two cabbage morphotypes with distinct head shapes (round and pointed); 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. Cytological 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 centre relative to the margins; and 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.
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