After the months of bare trees, dry, cold winds, and dull, colorless fields, the first signs of spring have finally begun to transform the Berkeley landscape. Our plants have endured another winter and are now in the process of a beautiful awakening, a transformation nothing short of magical.
Every time I step outside, I’m awestruck by the vast, diverse forms and colors nature takes on, whether it be in the iridescent feathers of the turkeries roaming about in front of my dorm, or the vivid hues of the flowers blossoming outside Valley Life Sciences. Even the sky itself presents itself in wonderful shades of orange and pink.Â
As someone who loves biology, I find the science behind the magic of springtime just as amazing as its views. According to Thursd, through a complex set of biological responses to environmental cues, plants make sense of the world around them and become attuned to the temperature and daylight hours. Plants decide when to flower by measuring daylight durations through pigment molecules deeply embedded in their cells, which are called phytochromes. These pigments signal to the plants when day lengths exceed a certain point, indicating that spring has finally come.
Another special class of proteins, called photoreceptors, detect the surrounding darkness and brightness, as well as the quality and duration of incoming light to trigger flowering. These daylight length changes activate initially dormant genes, leading to the production of flowering hormones, mobilizing energy towards forming the structures of the flower.Â
Different species have their own threshold of needed heat exposure to begin flowering. Warmer temperatures allow for increased enzyme activity, which speed up chemical reactions needed for cell division that lets the buds swell. This warmer temperature also reinvigorates the soil, reviving the microbial life that essentially feeds the plants by breaking down organic matter.Â
Isn’t it amazing that the earth we were born into, a place full of diverse life and a multitude of complex reactions, evolved to produce these spectacles? Most of the time, I feel myself being drawn to my homework, screens, or worries, that I feel I often miss these intricate details the world is abundant with. Once in a while, when I finally get the motivation to take a walk outside and enjoy the warmth of the sun, I remember just how beautiful our home is.