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AOBPreview published online on October 11, 2004
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mch213
© 2004 by Annals of Botany Company
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Received June 7, 2004
Revised July 12, 2004
Accepted August 20, 2004

Technical Note

Statistical Recognition of Random and Regular Phyllotactic Patterns

BERNARD JEUNE 1 and DENIS BARABÉ 2*

1 Laboratoire de Cytologie Expérimentale et Morphogenèse végétale, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Bât. N2, 4 place Jussieu, 75 252 Paris Cedex 05, France
2 Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Jardin botanique de Montréal, 4101 Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, Canada H1X 2B2

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: denis.barabe{at}umontreal.ca.


  Abstract

• Aims A statistical method used in ecology is adapted to characterize the degree of order in phyllotactic systems.

• Scope The test consists of subdividing a planar projection of the stem apical meristem into 16 sectors and counting the number of primordia appearing in each. By dividing the sum of squared deviations by the mean number of primordia per sector the chi-square ({chi}2) is obtained. When there are a total number of 20 primordia, if the {chi}2 is less than 6·26, the phyllotaxis is spiral; if it is between 6·26 and 27·5 the phyllotaxis is random; and if it is greater than 27·5, the phyllotaxis is distichous or whorled (level of significance {alpha} = 5 %). It is also possible to remove one or more sectors. If there are k sectors, the two critical values delimiting the random zone will be found in a {chi}2 table for k - 1 degrees of freedom.

• Conclusions The method is applied to the analysis of sho mutants described by Itoh et al. in 2000 (Plant Cell 12: 2161-2174). The results obtained are in agreement with the theoretical analysis showing that a whorled or spiral phyllotactic system may contain a certain number of randomly distributed elements without losing its regular global structure.

Keywords: Shoot apex, phyllotaxis, models, mutant, chi-square.
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