A plant’s sexual reproduction depends upon the proper development of its flower organs. In 2011, the team led by professor Maria Helena Goldman of the Ribeirão Preto School of Philosophy, Science and Letters at the University of São Paulo (FFCLRP/USP) identified the SCI1 gene, which controls cell proliferation in the specialized tissue of the upper pistil, a flower’s female reproductive organ, and influences its final size. The image shows the pistil of the tobacco plant, Nicotiana tabacum, as its flower begins to develop next to three anthers, the sacs where the grains of pollen are produced. The image was made by a scanning electron microscope at the USP Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine.
Photo sent in by Maria Helena Goldman, professor at the FFCLRP/USP
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