Heliotropism

Heliotropism, a form of tropism, is the diurnal motion or seasonal motion of plant parts (flowers
or leaves) in response to the direction of the sun. The habit of some plants to move in the
direction of the sun was already known by the Ancient Greeks. They named one of those plants
after that property Heliotropium, meaning sun turn. The Greeks assumed it to be a passive effect,
presumably the loss of fluid on the illuminated side, that did not need further study.[1] Aristotle's
logic that plants are passive and immobile organisms prevailed. In the 19th century, however,
botanists discovered that growth processes in the plant were involved, and conducted
increasingly ingenious experiments. A. P. de Candolle called this phenomenon
in any plant heliotropism (1832).[2] It was renamed phototropism in 1892, because it is a response
to light rather than to the sun, and because the phototropism of algae in lab studies at that time
strongly depended on the brightness (positive phototropic for weak light, and negative
phototropic for bright light, like sunlight).[3][4] A botanist studying this subject in the lab, at the
cellular and subcellular level, or using artificial light, is more likely to employ the more abstract
word phototropism. The French scientist Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan was one of the first to
study heliotropism when he experimented with the Mimosa pudica plant.
Contents
[hide]

1 Floral heliotropism

2 Leaf heliotropism

3 References

4 External links

Floral heliotropism[edit]
Heliotropic flowers track the sun's motion across the sky from east to west. During the night, the
flowers may assume a random orientation, while at dawn they turn again toward the east where
the sun rises. The motion is performed by motor cells in a flexible segment just below the flower,
called a pulvinus. The motor cells are specialized in pumping potassiumions into nearby tissues,
changing their turgor pressure. The segment flexes because the motor cells at the shadow side
elongate due to a turgor rise. Heliotropism is a response to light from the sun.
Several hypotheses have been proposed for the occurrence of heliotropism in flowers:

The pollinator attraction hypothesis holds that the warmth associated with
full insolation of the flower is a direct reward for pollinators.[5]

The growth promotion hypothesis assumes that effective absorption of solar energy and
the consequent rise in temperature has a favourable effect on pollen germination, growth
of the pollen tube and seed production.[6]

The cooling hypothesis, appropriate to flowers in hot climates, assumes that the position
of flowers is adjusted to avoid overheating.[7]

In general, flower heliotropism could increase reproductive success by

increasing pollination, fertilization success, and/or seed development,[8] especially in the spring
flowers.
Some solar tracking plants are not purely heliotropic: in those plants the change of orientation is
an innate circadian motion triggered by light, which continues for one or more periods if the light
cycle is interrupted.
Tropical convolvulaceous flowers show a preferred orientation, pointing in the general direction
of the sun but not exactly tracking the sun. They demonstrated no diurnal heliotropism but
strong seasonal heliotropism. If solar tracking is exact, the suns rays would always enter
the corolla tube and warm the gynoecium, a process which could be dangerous in a tropical
climate. However, by adopting a certain angle away from the solar angle, this is prevented. The
trumpet shape of these flowers thus acts as a parasol shading the gynoecium at times of
maximum solar radiation, and not allowing the rays to impinge on the gynoecium.[9]
In case of sunflower, a common misconception is that sunflower heads track the Sun across the
sky. The uniform alignment of the flowers does result from heliotropism in an earlier
development stage, the bud stage, before the appearance of flower heads. The buds are
heliotropic until the end of the bud stage, and finally face east. The flower of the sunflower
preserves the final orientation of the bud, thus keeping the mature flower facing east.
Leaf heliotropism[edit]
Leaf heliotropism is the solar tracking behavior of plant leaves. Some plant species have leaves
that orient themselves perpendicularly to the sun's rays in the morning (diaheliotropism), and
others have those that orient themselves parallel to these rays at midday (paraheliotropism).
[10]
Floral heliotropism is not necessarily exhibited by the same plants that exhibit leaf
heliotropism.
References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Whippo, Craig W. (2006). "Phototropism: Bending towards
Enlightenment". The Plant Cell 18 (5): 1110

1119.doi:10.1105/tpc.105.039669. PMC 1456868.PMID 16670442.

Retrieved 2012-08-08.
2. Jump up^ Hart, J.W. (1990). Plant Tropisms: And other Growth Movements.
Springer. p. 36. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
3. Jump up^ "Phototropism and photomorphogenesis of Vaucheria".
4. Jump up^ Donat-Peter Hder,Michael Lebert (2001).Photomovement. Elsevier.
p. 676. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
5. Jump up^ Hocking B., Sharplin D. (1965). "Flower basking by arctic
insects" (PDF). Nature 206 (4980): 206215.doi:10.1038/206215b0.
6. Jump up^ Kevan, P.G. (1975). "Sun-tracking solar furnaces in high arctic flowers:
significance for pollination and insects.".Science 189 (4204): 723
726.doi:10.1126/science.189.4204.723.
7. Jump up^ Lang A.R.G., Begg J.E. (1979). "Movements of Helianthus annuus
leaves and heads". J Appl Ecol 16: 299305.doi:10.2307/2402749.
8. Jump up^ Kudo, G. (1995). "Ecological Significance of Flower Heliotropism in
the Spring Ephemeral Adonis ramosa (Ranunculaceae)". Oikos 72 (1): 14
20.doi:10.2307/3546032.
9. Jump up^ Patio, S.; Jeffree, C.; Grace, J. (2002). "The ecological role of
orientation in tropical convolvulaceous flowers"(PDF). Oecologia 130: 373
379. doi:10.1007/s00442-001-0824-1.
10. Jump up^ officially replaced by diaphototropism and paraphototropism