Abstract
Leaves are most important part of the plant and can be used for the identification of a taxon. An appropriate understanding of leaf development in terms of shape and responsible abiotic factors is necessary for improvement in plant. Leaf shape variation could be evaluated successfully, and the symmetrical and asymmetrical elements of the overall shape variation could be detected. The aim of the present study was to establish a quantitative analysis method of leaf shape by elliptic Fourier descriptors and principal component analysis (EF-PCA). EF-PCA describes an overall shape mathematically by transforming coordinate information concerning its contours into elliptic Fourier descriptors (EFDs) and summarizing the EFDs by principal component analysis. We can be able to extract six variables by using leaf specimen images from field and herbarium specimens. In the present study, total leaf area with respect to notch area is more variable within species. Within a species the major source of the symmetrical elements may be governed by genotypic features and the asymmetrical elements are strongly affected by the environment. We could discuss the value of morphometrics to detect subtle morphological variation which may be undetectable by human eye.
Highlights
As a beginning, we offer a quotation from MacLeod (2002): "The fundamental observation of biology is morphology
The mean leaf shape of each species was drawn using the mean values of the standardize Fourier coefficients within each species
The coefficient of the elliptic Fourier descriptors was evaluated inversely using an eigen-vector matrix, letting the score on a particular principal component be equal to the mean ± 2 s.d., while the score on the remaining components remained at the mean
Summary
We offer a quotation from MacLeod (2002): "The fundamental observation of biology is morphology. Morphological data form the basis of virtually all systematic descriptions". That this is so reinforced by the fact that most systematic studies begin by grouping organisms based on morphological similarity. Angiosperm leaves are the prime photosynthetic organ of the plant and tremendously inconsistent in their form. The variation in leaf morphology suggests the multifaceted role of genetics, development, and environment. In addition to genetic and developmental effects, role of the abiotic and biotic factors influences leaf shape. At higher temperature fluctuation plants show higher incidence of leaf shape plasticity (Little et al 2010), and colder climates can be associated with more highly dissected leaf margins (Royer et al 2009) To study the development of different
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