Researchers have discovered that sunflowers do not use conventional processes to track the sun across the sky. They follow the path of the sun overhead through a process known as heliotropism, with their heads tilting progressively westwards during the day and reorienting towards the east at night.
With their bright yellow manes and sturdy stems, sunflowers might seem like a simple summer delight. But researchers say the plants are surprisingly enigmatic after discovering they don’t use conventional processes to track the sun across the sky.
Many plants grow towards a light source – this is because when blue light receptors, called phototropins, are activated on the lighted side of the stem, they cause hormones called auxins to become concentrated on the other “dark” side.While new research suggests this mechanism explains how sunflowers bend towards artificial light indoors, it appears it does not account for the way sunflowers naturally track the path of the sun.
The researchers then tried blocking blue and ultraviolet or red and far-red light on their own, found neither attempt alone affected heliotropism in the outdoor plants, suggesting multiple light-signalling pathways are likely at play at the same time.
Sunflowers Heliotropism Sun-Tracking Research Plants
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