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Darwin Reviews

The Journal of Experimental Botany publishes primary research papers and high-quality reviews on topics across the plant sciences. During 2009 each issue will also carry a series of special reviews to celebrate the year as both bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and 150 years since the publication of his seminal work 'On the origin of species'. Most biologists will be familiar with the theory of Darwinian evolution and will associate it with pictures of Galapagos finches and sea iguanas. Most plant biologists will also recall his work on phototropism and his detailed records of grass coleoptiles bending towards his window. Fewer will be aware of the quantity of his other studies on plants, the depth and detail of his records and the long period over which he continued to publish on aspects of our subject. Gratifyingly, his works are available for everyone to appreciate free of charge at http://darwin-online.org.uk.

The JXB Darwin series will present modern, contemporary reviews from leading researchers chosen to reflect Charles Darwin's wide range of interests in plant biology. Authors will write on the state of their art today and they will choose whether or not Darwin's work will be reflected in what they write and on how, or if, his scientific legacies colour how their research proceeds today. This should be an exciting and varied collection adding to the regular review collections, opinion articles and commissioned reviews in the journal. I hope you enjoy seeking out the Darwin reviews and that they inspire everyone to explore plant biology with the vigour that Darwin himself displayed.

Richard Napier, Reviews Editor

Darwin Reviews articles in 2009

Aaron M. Ellison and Nicholas J. Gotelli
Energetics and the evolution of carnivorous plants-Darwin's 'most wonderful plants in the world'
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 19-42;

E. Wassim Chehab, Elizabeth Eich, and Janet Braam
Thigmomorphogenesis: a complex plant response to mechano-stimulation
JXB Advance Access published on December 16, 2008 J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 43-56;

Bruno Moulia and Meriem Fournier
The power and control of gravitropic movements in plants: a biomechanical and systems biology view
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 461-486;

Richard D. Firn and Clive G. Jones
A Darwinian view of metabolism: molecular properties determine fitness
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 719-726;

Bruce McClure
Darwin's foundation for investigating self-incompatibility and the progress toward a physiological model for S-RNase-based SI
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 1069-1081;

P. R. Shewry
Wheat
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 1537-1553

Jennifer J. Holland, Diana Roberts, and Emmanuel Liscum
Understanding phototropism: from Darwin to today
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 1969-1978

Thorunn Helgason and Alastair H. Fitter
Natural selection and the evolutionary ecology of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Phylum Glomeromycota)
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 2465-2480

Sylviane Comparot-Moss and Kay Denyer
The evolution of the starch biosynthetic pathway in cereals and other grasses
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 2481-2492

Anna-Liisa Laine
Role of coevolution in generating biological diversity: spatially divergent selection trajectories
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 2957-2970

Robert B. Heinen, Qing Ye, and Francoise Chaumont
Role of aquaporins in leaf physiology
JXB Advance Access, Published on June 19th 2009 J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60:2971-2985

Shingo Takagi, Hideyasu Takamatsu, and Nami Sakurai-Ozato
Chloroplast anchoring: its implications for the regulation of intracellular chloroplast distribution
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 3301-3310

Zhefeng Lin, Silin Zhong, and Don Grierson
Recent advances in ethylene research
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 3311-3336

Purbasha Sarkar, Elena Bosneaga, and Manfred Auer.
Plant cell walls throughout evolution: towards a molecular understanding of their design principles.
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 3615-3635

John A. Raven, John Beardall, Kevin J. Flynn, and Stephen C. Maberly
Phagotrophy in the origins of photosynthesis in eukaryotes and as a complementary mode of nutrition in phototrophs: relation to Darwin's insectivorous plants
J. Exp. Bot. 2009 60: 3975-3987

Some of the major publications by Charles Darwin

The voyage of the Beagle: Journal and Remarks (1839)
On the origin of species (1859)
The movements and habits of climbing plants (1865)
The variation of animals and plants under domestication (1868)
Insectivorous plants (1875)
The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex (1871)
The effects of cross and self-fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom (1876)
The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species (1877)
The power of movement in plants (1880)
The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms (1881)