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SUMMARY:Under the rainbow : understanding how plants build microscopic str
 uctures to produce iridescence - Edwige Moyroud (Glover Group)
DTSTART:20140307T130000Z
DTEND:20140307T132500Z
UID:TALK49506@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Yoan Coudert
DESCRIPTION:Beetles and butterflies use minute structures arranged periodi
 cally on or just below their surfaces to produce vibrant colours that chan
 ge with the viewing angle\, a phenomenon known as iridescence. The structu
 res responsible for these optical effects have been intensively described 
 but the mechanisms underlying their development remain unknown. In particu
 lar\, how a living organism can produce a nanopattern with sufficient accu
 racy that it interferes with light to generate an iridescent signal is a k
 ey question.\n\nFlowering plants also produce microscopic structures to co
 lour their fruits and flowers and insect pollinators can use petal iridesc
 ence to detect flowers more efficiently. The physical mechanism responsibl
 e for this effect is a surface diffraction grating formed by ordered stria
 tions of the cuticle on flat petal cells. My project aims to understand ho
 w an optically accurate diffraction grating can develop on the surface of 
 a flower petal\, by coupling a range of molecular and cell biology tools w
 ith optical analysis and behavioural ecology conducted in the Glover lab. 
 As a starting point\, I developed a protocol to efficiently transform an i
 ridescent species\, Hibiscus trionum. We are now using this new model to d
 etermine if mechanical buckling of the cuticle could explain the formation
  of ordered striations on the petal epidermis. 
LOCATION:Department of Plant Sciences\, Large Lecture Theatre
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