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Botanist Information

Botany, plant science(s), or plant biology (from Ancient Greek βοτάνη botane, "pasture, grass, or fodder" and that from βόσκειν boskein, "to feed or to graze"), a discipline of biology, is the science of plant life.[1][2][3] Traditionally, botany included the study of fungi, algae and viruses. Botany covers a wide range of scientific disciplines including structure, growth, reproduction, metabolism, development, diseases, chemical properties, and evolutionary relationships among taxonomic groups. Botany began with early human efforts to identify edible, medicinal and poisonous plants, making it one of the oldest branches of science. Today botanists study about 400,000 species of living organisms.

Plants are essential as food and for all people and also as recreation for people who enjoy gardening, horticulture, and culinary arts.

Contents

History

Main article: History of botany The traditional tools of a botanist

Early botany

The history of botany begins with ancient writings on, and classifications of, plants. Such writings are found in several early cultures. Examples of early botanical works have been found in Ancient Indian sacred texts, ancient Zoroastrian writings,[4] and ancient Chinese works.

Theophrastus (c. 371–287 BC) has been frequently referred to as the ”father of botany”.[5] The Greco-Roman world produced a number of botanical works including Theophrastus's Historia Plantarum and Dioscorides' De Materia Medica from the first century.[6]

Works from the medieval Muslim world included Ibn Wahshiyya's Nabatean Agriculture, Abū Ḥanīfa Dīnawarī's (828-896) the Book of Plants, and Ibn Bassal's The Classification of Soils. In the early 13th century, Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati, and Ibn al-Baitar (d. 1248) also wrote on botany.[7][8][9]

Early modern botany

Crantz's Classis cruciformium..., 1769

German physician Leonhart Fuchs (1501–1566) was one of "the three founding fathers of botany", along with Otto Brunfels (1489–1534) and Hieronymus Bock (1498–1554) (also called Hieronymus Tragus).[10][11]

Valerius Cordus (1515–1544) authored a pharmacopoeia of lasting importance, the Dispensatorium in 1546.[12] Conrad von Gesner (1516–1565) and Nicholas Culpeper (1616–1654) also published herbals covering the medicinal uses of plants. Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522–1605) was considered the "father of natural history", which included the study of plants. In 1665, using an early microscope, Robert Hooke discovered cells, a term he coined, in cork, and a short time later in living plant tissue.[13]

During the 18th century, systems of classification became deliberately artificial and served only for the purpose of identification. These classifications are comparable to diagnostic keys, where taxa are artificially grouped in pairs by few, easily recognisable characters. The sequence of the taxa in keys is often totally unrelated to their natural or phyletic groupings. In the 18th century an increasing number of new plants had arrived in Europe, from newly discovered countries and the European colonies worldwide, and a larger amount of plants became available for study.[14]

In 1754 Carl von Linné (Carl Linnaeus) divided the plant Kingdom into 25 classes.[14] One, the Cryptogamia, included all plants with concealed reproductive parts (mosses, liverworts and ferns), and algae and fungi.[15]

The increased knowledge of anatomy, morphology and life cycles, lead to the realization that there were more natural affinities between plants, than the sexual system of Linnaeus indicated. Adanson (1763), de Jussieu (1789), and Candolle (1819) all proposed various alternative natural systems that were widely followed. The ideas of natural selection as a mechanism for evolution required adaptations to the Candollean system, which started the studies on evolutionary relationships and phylogenetic classifications of plants.[16][17]

Botany was greatly stimulated by the appearance of the first “modern” text book, Matthias Schleiden's Grundzuge der Wissenschaftlichen, published in English in 1849 as Principles of Scientific Botany.[18] Carl Willdenow examined the connection between seed dispersal and distribution, the nature of plant associations, and the impact of geological history. The cell nucleus was discovered by Robert Brown in 1831.[19]

Modern botany

A considerable amount of new knowledge today is being generated from studying model plants like Arabidopsis thaliana. This weedy species in the mustard family was one of the first plants to have its genome sequenced. The sequencing of the rice (Oryza sativa) genome, its relatively small genome, and a large international research community have made rice an important cereal/grass/monocot model.[20] Another grass species, Brachypodium distachyon is also an experimental model for understanding genetic, cellular and molecular biology.[21] Other commercially important staple foods like wheat, maize, barley, rye, pearl millet and soybean are also having their genomes sequenced. Some of these are challenging to sequence because they have more than two haploid (n) sets of chromosomes, a condition known as polyploidy, common in the plant kingdom. A green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, is model organism that has proven important in advancing knowledge of cell biology.[22]

In 1998 the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group published a phylogeny of flowering plants based on an analysis of DNA sequences from most families of flowering plants. As a result of this work, major questions such as which families represent the earliest branches in the genealogy of angiosperms are now understood. Investigating how plant species are related to each other allows botanists to better understand the process of evolution in plants.[23] Despite the study of model plants and DNA, there is continual ongoing work and discussion among taxonomists about how best to classify plants into various taxa.[24]

Scope and importance of botany

Hibiscus

Molecular, genetic and biochemical level through organelles, cells, tissues, organs, individuals, plant populations, and communities of plants are all aspects of plant life that are studied. At each of these levels a botanist might be concerned with the classification (taxonomy), structure (anatomy and morphology), or function (physiology) of plant life.[25]

Historically all living things were grouped as animals or plants,[26] and botany covered all organisms not considered animals. Some organisms included in the field of botany are no longer considered to belong to the plant (plantae) kingdom, which obtain their energy via photosynthesis, – these include bacteria (studied in bacteriology), fungi (mycology) including lichen-forming fungi (lichenology), non-chlorophyte algae (phycology) and viruses (virology). However, attention is still given to these groups by botanists, and fungi (including lichens), and photosynthetic protists are usually covered in introductory botany courses.[27][28]

The study of plants is vital because they are a fundamental part of life on Earth, which generates the oxygen, food, fibres, fuel and medicine that allow humans and other life forms to exist. Through photosynthesis, plants absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that in large amounts can affect global climate. Just as importantly for us, plants release oxygen into the atmosphere during photosynthesis. Additionally, they prevent soil erosion and are influential in the water cycle.[29] Plants are crucial to the future of human society as provide food, oxygen, beauty, medicine, habitat for animals, products for people, and create and preserve soil.[30] Paleobotanists study ancient plants in the fossil record. It is believed that early in the Earth's history, the evolution of photosynthetic plants altered the global atmosphere of the earth, changing the ancient atmosphere by oxidation.[31]

Human nutrition

Nearly all the food we eat comes (directly and indirectly) from plants, such as this American long grain rice

Virtually all foods directly or indirectly, via animals that rely on plants for nutrition, from plants.[32] Plants are the fundamental base of nearly all food chains because they use the energy from the sun and nutrients from the soil and atmosphere, converting them into a form that can be consumed and utilized by animals; this is what ecologists call the first trophic level.[33] Botanists also study how plants produce food we can eat and how to increase yields and therefore their work is important in mankind's ability to feed the world and provide food security for future generations, for example, through plant breeding.[34] Botanists also study weeds, plants which are considered to be a nuisance in a particular location. Weeds are a considerable problem in agriculture, and botany provides some of the basic science used to understand how to minimize 'weed' impact in agriculture and native ecosystems.[35] Ethnobotany is the study of the relationships between plants and people, and when this kind of study is turned to the investigation of plant-people relationships in past times, it is referred to as archaeobotany or paleoethnobotany.[36]

Fundamental life processes

Botanical research has long had relevance to the understanding of fundamental biological processes other than just botany. Fundamental life processes such as cell division and protein synthesis can be studied using plants without the moral issues that come with conducting studies upon animals or humans. Gregor Mendel discovered the genetic laws of inheritance in this fashion by studying Pisum sativum (pea) inherited traits such as shape. What Mendel learned from studying plants has had far reaching benefits outside of botany. Similarly, 'jumping genes' were discovered by Barbara McClintock while she was studying maize.[37]

Medicine and materials

Many medicinal and recreational drugs, like tetrahydrocannabinol, caffeine, and nicotine come directly from the plant kingdom. Others are simple derivatives of botanical natural products; for example, aspirin is based on the pain killer salicylic acid which originally came from the bark of willow trees. As well, the narcotic analgesics such as morphine are derived from the opium poppy.[38] There may be many novel cures for diseases provided by plants, waiting to be discovered. Popular stimulants like coffee, chocolate, tobacco, and tea also come from plants. Most alcoholic beverages come from fermenting plants such as barley (beer), rice (sake) and grapes (wine).[39]

Hemp, cotton, wood, paper, linen, vegetable oils, some types of rope, and rubber are examples of materials made from plants. Silk can only be made by using the mulberry plant. Sugarcane, rapeseed, soy are some of the plants with a highly fermentable sugar or oil content which have recently been put to use as sources of biofuels, which are important alternatives to fossil fuels (see biodiesel).[40]

Environmental changes

In many different ways, plants can act a little like the 'miners' canary', an early warning system alerting us to important changes in our environment. Plants respond to and provide understanding of changes in on the environment:[41]

Research

This section is in the middle of an expansion or major restructuring. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. This template was placed by 512bits. If this section has not been edited in several days, please remove this template. This article was last edited by 512bits (talk | contribs) 47 seconds ago. ()

Ecology

Evolutionary

Physiological

Further information: autotroph

Plant physiology is the energy the plant brings in acting upon materials brought into the plant via various mechanisms.[42] Sunlight, either through photosynthesis or cellular respiration, is the basis of all life. Photoautotrophs gather energy directly from sunlight. This includes all green plants, cyanobacteria, and the few bacteria that can photosynthesize. Heterotrophs take in organic molecules and respire them. This includes all animals, all fungi, all completely parasitic plants, and nonphotosynthetic bacteria.[43]

Structural

Roots, stems, leaves, and flowers of Lilium superbum.

Understanding the structure and function of cells is fundamental to all of the biological sciences. All organisms have cells. Cell biology studies their structural and physiological properties. This includes responses to stimuli, reproduction, and development on the macroscopic scale, microscopic scale, and molecular level. The similarities and differences between the function of a cell are quite varied.[44] Plant cells are eukaryotic, ie, have a membrane-encased nucleus that carries genetic material.[45] With rare exceptions, plant cells also have a central vacuole, cytoplasm, cytosol, dictyosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, microbodies, microfilaments, microtubules, mitochondria, plasma membrane, plastids, protoplasm, ribosomes, storage products, and a cell wall.[46] Cells divide by processes known as karyokinesis and cytokinesis.[47]

The body of a plant contains three basic parts: roots, stems, and leaves. Roots anchor it to the ground, gather water and mineral nutrients from the soil, and produce hormones. Plants with horizontal-spreading roots, such as willows, produce shoots and those with fleshy taproots, such as beets and carrots, store carbohydrates.[48] Stems provide support to the leaves and store nutrients. Leaves gather sunlight and begin photosynthesis.[49] Large, flat, flexible, green leaves are called foliage leaves.[50] Angiosperms are seed-producing plants that produce flowers, having closed seeds. Gymnosperms are seed-producing plants which have open seeds, such as conifers, cycads, Gingko, and gnetophyta.[51] Woody plants, such as azaleas and oaks, undergo a secondary growth phase resulting in two additional types of tissues: wood (secondary xylem) and bark (secondary phloem and cork). All gymnosperms and many angiosperms are woody plants.[52] Some plants reproduce sexually, some asexually, and some via both means.[53]

Systematics

Linnaeus's table of the Plant Kingdom ("Regnum Vegetabile") from the first edition of Systema Naturae (1735).

Scientific classification in botany is a method by which botanists group and categorize organisms by biological type, such as genus or species. Biological classification is a form of scientific taxonomy. Modern taxonomy is rooted in the work of Carolus Linnaeus, who grouped species according to shared physical characteristics. These groupings have since been revised to improve consistency with the Darwinian principle of common descent. While scientists do not always agree on how to classify organisms, molecular phylogenetics, which uses DNA sequences as data, has driven many recent revisions along more efficient, evolutionary lines and is likely to continue to do so. Botanical classification belongs to the science of plant systematics. The dominant classification system is called the Linnaean taxonomy. It includes ranks and binomial nomenclature. The classification, taxonomy, and nomenclature of botanical organisms is administered by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN).[54][55]

The five-kingdom system has largely been superseded by modern alternative classification systems generally begin with the three-domain system: Archaea (originally Archaebacteria); Bacteria (originally Eubacteria); Eukaryota (including protists, fungi, plants, and animals). These domains reflect whether the cells have nuclei or not, as well as differences in the chemical composition of the cell exteriors.[55][56]

Further, each kingdom is broken down recursively until each species is separately classified. The order is: Domain; Kingdom; Phylum; Class; Order; Family; Genus; Species. The scientific name of an organism is generated from its genus and species, resulting in a single world-wide name for each organism.[55] For example, the Tiger Lily is listed as Lilium columbianum. Lilium is the genus, and columbianum the species. When writing the scientific name of an organism, it is proper to capitalize the first letter in the genus and put all of the species in lowercase. Additionally, the entire term may be italicized or underlined. Phylogenetics is the study of similarities among different species.[55][57][58]

Subdisciplines of botany

Notable botanists

Further information: List of botanists Sculpture of Ibn al-Baitar among trees, Benalmádena, Málaga, Spain

See also

Biology portal
Ecology portal
Main article: Outline of botany

Notes

  1. ^ Liddell & Scott 1940.
  2. ^ Gordh & Headrick 2001, p. 134.
  3. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary 2012.
  4. ^ Iyer 2009, p. 117.
  5. ^ Grene & Depew 2004, p. 11.
  6. ^ Mauseth 2003, p. 532.
  7. ^ Dallal 2010, p. 197.
  8. ^ Panaino 2002, p. 93.
  9. ^ Levey 1973, p. 116.
  10. ^ National Museum of Wales 2007.
  11. ^ Yaniv & Bachrach 2005, p. 157.
  12. ^ Sprague 1939.
  13. ^ Waggoner 2001.
  14. ^ a b Capon 2005, pp. 220-223.
  15. ^ Hoek, Mann & Jahns 2005, p. 9.
  16. ^ Ereshefsky 1997, pp. 493-519.
  17. ^ Gray & Sargent 1889, pp. 292–293.
  18. ^ Morton 1981, p. 377.
  19. ^ Harris 1999, pp. 76-81.
  20. ^ Devos & Gale 2000.
  21. ^ University of California-Davis 2012.
  22. ^ Ben-Menahem 2009, p. 5370.
  23. ^ Chase et al. 2003, pp. 399–436.
  24. ^ Capon 2005, p. 223.
  25. ^ Ben-Menahem 2009, p. 5368.
  26. ^ Chapman et al. 2001, p. 56.
  27. ^ Capon 2005, pp. 10-11.
  28. ^ Mauseth 2003, pp. 1-3.
  29. ^ Gust 1996.
  30. ^ Missouri Botanical Garden 2009.
  31. ^ Cleveland Museum of Natural History 2012.
  32. ^ Ben-Menahem 2009, pp. 5367-5368.
  33. ^ Butz 2004, pp. 534-553.
  34. ^ Floros, Newsome & Fisher 2010.
  35. ^ Schoening 2005.
  36. ^ Acharya & Anshu 2008, p. 440.
  37. ^ Ben-Menahem 2009, p. 5369.
  38. ^ Mann 1987, pp. 186-187.
  39. ^ University of Maryland Medical Center 2011.
  40. ^ Scharlemann & Laurance 2008, pp. 52-53.
  41. ^ Ben-Menahem 2009, pp. 5369-5370.
  42. ^ Mauseth 2003, pp. 278-279.
  43. ^ Mauseth 2003, pp. 280-314.
  44. ^ Mauseth 2003, pp. 50-58.
  45. ^ National Center for Biotechnology Information 2004.
  46. ^ Mauseth 2003, pp. 62-81.
  47. ^ Mauseth 2003, pp. 96-103.
  48. ^ Mauseth 2003, pp. 185-208.
  49. ^ Mauseth 2003, pp. 114-153.
  50. ^ Mauseth 2003, pp. 154-184.
  51. ^ Capon 2005, p. 11.
  52. ^ Mauseth 2003, pp. 209-243.
  53. ^ Mauseth 2003, pp. 244-277.
  54. ^ McNeill et al. 2006.
  55. ^ a b c d Mauseth 2003, pp. 528-551.
  56. ^ Woese, Kandler & Wheelis 1990, pp. 4576-4579.
  57. ^ International Association for Plant Taxonomy 2006.
  58. ^ Silyn-Roberts 2000, p. 198.

Bibliography

Web-based

Books & journals

Popular science

Academic and scientific

Environmental botany
Plant physiology

External links

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Biology
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Hierarchy of Life Biosphere > Ecosystem > Community (Biocoenosis) > Population > Organism > Organ system > Organ > Tissue > Cell > Organelle > Molecule (Macromolecule · Biomolecule) > Atom
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Botany
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Fields and disciplines Agriculture · Bryology · Cell theory · Cladistics · Comparative anatomy · Cytology · Economic botany · Ethnobotany · Floristics · Forestry · Genetic engineering · Horticulture · Lichenology · Molecular phylogenetics · Mycology · Natural history · Numerical taxonomy · Paleobotany · Palynology · Phycology · Phylogenetic nomenclature · Phytochemistry · Phytogeography · Plant anatomy · Plant ecology · Plant genetics · Plant morphology · Plant pathology · Plant physiology · Pteridology · Taxonomy · Ultrastructure
Institutions Jardin des Plantes · Lyceum · Natural History Museum · Orto botanico di Padova · Orto botanico di Pisa · Rothamsted Experimental Station · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Publications Historia Plantarum of Theophrastus and Causes of Plants c. 200 BC · Materia Medica c. 60 AD · Naturalis Historia 77-79 AD · Herbarum Vivae Icones 1530 · Libellus De Re Herbaria Novus 1538 · Kreutterbuch 1539 · Historia Plantarum of John Ray 1561-1563 · De Plantis 1583 · Stirpium Historiae 1583 · Prodromus Theatrici Botanici 1620 · Pinax 1623 · Anatome Plantarum 1675 · Anatomy of Plants 1682 · Historia Plantarum 1682–1704 · De Sexu Plantarum Epistola 1694 · Vegetable Staticks 1727 · Systema Naturae 1735 · Genera Plantarum 1737 · Philosophia Botanica 1751 · Species Plantarum 1753 · Familles des Plantes 1763-4 · Experiments Upon Vegetables 1779 · Die Metamorphose der Pflantzen 1790 · Traité d'Anatomie et de Physiologie Végétale 1802 · Recherches Chimiques sur la Végétation 1804 · Beyträge zur Anatomie der Pflanzen 1812 · Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis 1824-1841 · Die Vegetabilische Zelle 1851 · Vergleichende Untersuchungen 1851 · On the Origin of Species 1859 · Experiments on Plant Hybridization 1862 · Die Vegetation der Erde 1872 · Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis 1873 · Plantesamfund 1895 · Pflanzengeographie auf Physiologischer Grundlage 1898 · Variation and Evolution in Plants 1950 · Ontogeny and Phylogeny 1977 · An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants 1981
Theories and concepts Alternation of generations · Biogeographical realm · Biological classification · Cell theory · Center of diversity · Spontaneous generation
Influential figures Theophrastus c. 371 – c. 287 BC · Pliny the Elder 23–79 AD · Pedanius Dioscorides c. 40-90 AD · Otto Brunfels 1464-1534 · Hieronymus Bock 1498-1554 · Valerius Cordus 1515-1544 · William Turner 1515-1568 · Rembert Dodoens 1517-1585 · Andrea Cesalpino 1519-1603 · Gaspard Bauhin 1560–1624 · Joachim Jungius 1587–1657 · John Ray 1623–1705 · Nehemiah Grew 1628–1711 · Marcello Malpighi 1628–1694 · Joseph Pitton de Tournefort 1656–1708 · Rudolf Jakob Camerarius 1665–1721 · Stephen Hales 1677–1761 · Bernard de Jussieu 1699–1777 · Carolus Linnaeus 1707–1778 · Michel Adanson 1727–1806 · Jan Ingenhousz 1730–1799 · Joseph Banks 1743–1820 · Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749–1832 · Carl Ludwig Willdenow 1765–1812 · Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure 1767–1845 · Alexander von Humboldt 1769–1859 · Aimé Bonpland 1773–1858 · Joakim Frederik Schouw 1789–1852 · Matthias Jakob Schleiden 1804–1881 · Alexander Braun 1805–1877 · Asa Gray 1810–1888 · August Grisebach 1814–1879 · Joseph Hooker 1817–1911 · Gregor Mendel 1822–1884 · Nathanael Pringsheim 1823–1894 · Wilhelm Hofmeister 1824–1877 · Julius von Sachs 1832–1897 · Eugenius Warming 1841–1924 · William Gilson Farlow 1844–1919 · Andreas Franz Wilhelm Schimper 1856–1901 · Nikolai Vavilov 1887–1943 · G. Ledyard Stebbins 1906–2000 · Eugene Odum 1913–2002 · Arthur Cronquist 1919–1992
Related topics History of agricultural science · History of agriculture · History of biochemistry · History of biotechnology · History of ecology · History of evolutionary thought · History of genetics · History of geology · History of medicine · History of molecular biology · History of molecular evolution · History of paleontology · History of phycology · History of plant systematics · History of science · Natural philosophy · Philosophy of biology · Timeline of biology and organic chemistry · Herbal · Botanical garden
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botanist (plural botanists)
  1. (botany) A person engaged in botany, the scientific study of plants.
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