User:Madhavpatel516/sandbox

Article Evaluation
Pinus strobus

This article is very well-written. Disregarding the material and information it presents, the formatting is clear, and not only does not distract from the information, it enhances it. The information is thorough, even though some areas are broad and others are very in-depth. Every fact is cited properly, and the citations link to well-reputed, well-documented sources that provide further information if one is interested. The thorough citations also offer a sense of legitimacy to the information being presented. While some sources are slightly dated, others are very recent, ie published within the last five-ten years. The information contains some jargon and technical terms, but these are either explained in-text or are hyperlinked to other pages that explain what those terms mean.

The main issue occurring in the "talk" portion of the page is a discussion on the metric vs customary system of measurement - the page was in metric, and a user had to go through the page and convert the units to customary units in order to make it more accessible for US-based users. Other topics of debate include the range of the pine tree in Georgia, and its role in the Great Chicago Fire - the wood's high flammability and its large contribution to the wooden framework of many buildings is what caused the easy burning of those fires. All technical, but still interesting discussions.

Potential Topic #1: The thermoregulation in lotus flowers in Nelumbo nucifera.
This topic is explored in very vague, broad strokes in the article on the Nelumbo genus. It simply addresses the fact that lotus flowers heat up to attract pollinators, without explaining any of the biochemical, evolutionary, ecological, or genetic components of that mechanism. In the talk page, people have specifically asked others to expand upon this article. There are many regulating mechanisms, heat-producing mechanisms, etc that go into generating thermal energy in lotus flowers to both attract pollinators and produce a beneficial, thermodynamically stable area for insects to reproduce in, thus increasing their chances of pollination.

Potential Topic #2: Progymnosperm evolution.
There isn't much on this article. Perhaps I could add information about the various evolutionary features of progymnosperms and how they directly relate to modern angiosperms and gymnosperms, such as the various synapomorphies of progymnosperms, their evolution, and how those traits can be linked as the ancestral traits of the traits displayed by modern extant gymnosperms.

Potential Topic #3: Angiosperms: the biochemistry of reproduction.
The main article on angiosperms very briefly discusses the biochemical processes that occur between the parts of a plant during the process of reproduction, such as the meiosis process that aborts 3 egg cells, double fertilization, the dehiscence of pollen from the anther, the identification of pollen on the stigma, the pollen tube, and the eventual fertilization process. There are very complex biochemical interactions and hormone signaling that occurs through all of these processes, and I could add to the information on this page. The topic as is is very broad, so I could narrow my topic down to just pollen dehiscence and how a plant knows when to release its pollen based on cues from its genetics, the sun, the temperature, and surrounding plants' hormone signaling.

Potential Topic #4: Opuntia phytochemicals and medicine
Opuntia, a species of cacti featuring large, flat pads and spiky, burgundy fruit, has an extensive article, but the section on phytochemicals and their use in both modern and folk medicine is very limited and brief. When I looked online, there was plenty of research on it. The fruit of this cactus contains many important compounds that have shown promise in the treatment of diabetes and various neurological disorders.

Sources for Thermoregulation in Lotus Flowers:
1) Flower thermoregulation facilitates fertilization in Asian sacred lotus - talks about how thermogenesis in lotus flowers has a clear correlation with improved fertilization rates. Flowers that were induced to be "cold" did not decrease seed development, but did decrease fertilization rates when the flower was cold during anther dehiscence.

2) Contribution of the Alternative Pathway to Respiration during Thermogenesis in Flowers of the Sacred Lotus - shows that the alternative oxidase pathway of respiration in lotus flowers is what results in the heating of thermogenic tissues in lotus flowers.

3) Synchronicity of thermogenic activity, alternative pathway respiratory flux, AOX protein content, and carbohydrates in receptacle tissues of sacred lotus during floral development - another resource for the alternative respiratory flux and the alternative respiratory pathway to produce heat.

4) Regulation of thermogenesis in flowering Araceae: The role of the alternative oxidase - another resource for the alternative pathway, more detailed than the rest. Not about Nelumbo specifically, but the pathway is the same.

5) Distribution of thermogenic activity in floral tissues of Nelumbo nucifera - Describes what parts of the flower is thermogenic and how much heat they produce.

6) Functional transition in the floral receptacle of the sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera): from thermogenesis to photosynthesis - Shows the evolutionary trend from the floral receptacle to being strictly thermogenic to being photosynthetic instead, and the pollination/energy production implications.

7) Heat production by sacred lotus flowers depends on ambient temperature, not light cycle - Shows that the lotus flower can sense ambient temperature, and not the time of day.

8) In the heat of the night – alternative pathway respiration drives thermogenesis in Philodendron bipinnatifidum - Not about the Nelumbo genus but more information about the alternative pathway.

9) Analysis of the Lotus Thermoregulation System from the Perspective of Control Engineering - How the thermoregulation system is controlled.

10) Floral thermogenesis: An adaptive strategy of pollination biology in Magnoliaceae - Offers an in-depth look at how thermogenesis adapts lotus flowers for pollinators.

Article Improvement Draft: Nelumbo
The article on Nelumbo has a section on thermoregulation already, but it is a very limited and narrow portion. I would improve it by adding the following information to the article:

EDITED Draft of Section Improvement
A unique property of the Nelumbo genus is that it can generate heat, which it does by using the alternative oxidase pathway(AOX). This pathway involves a different, alternative exchange of electrons from the usual pathway that electrons follow when generating energy in mitochondria, known as the AOX, or alternative oxidase pathway.

The typical pathway in plant mitochondria involves cytochrome complexes. The pathway used to generate heat in Nelumbo involves cyanide resistant alternative oxidase, which is a different electron acceptor than the usual cytochrome complexes. The plant also reduces ubiquitin concentrations while in thermogenesis, which allows the AOX in the plant to function without degradation. This alternative pathway is used by the plant more often than the typical cytochrome pathway, and the excess heat production during this process allows the plant to heat itself. Thermogenesis is restricted to the receptacle, stamen, and petals of the flower, but each of these parts produce heat independently without relying on the heat production in other parts of the flower.

Several theories have been put forth about the function of thermogenesis, especially in an aquatic genus such as Nelumbo. The most common theory posits that thermogenesis in flowers attracts pollinators, for a variety of reasons. Heated flowers may attract insect pollinators; as the pollinators warm themselves while resting inside the flower, they deposit and pick up pollen onto and from the flower. The thermogenic environment might also be conducive to pollinator mating - pollinators may require a certain temperature to reproduce in, and by providing an ideal thermogenic environment, the flower is pollinated by mating pollinators. Others theorize that heat production facilitates the release of volatile compounds into the air to attract pollinators that are flying over water, or that the heat is recognizable in the dark by thermo-sensitive pollinators. None have been conclusively proven to be more plausible than the others.

After anthesis, the receptacle of the lotus transitions from a primarily thermogenic to a photosynthetic structure, as seen in the rapid and dramatic increase in photosystems, photosynthetically involved pigments, electron transport rates, and the presence of 13C in the receptacle and petals, all of which assist in increasing photosynthesis rates. After this transition, all thermogenesis in the flower is lost. Pollinators do not need to be attracted once the ovary is fertilized, and thus the receptacle's resources are better used when it is photosynthesizing to produce carbohydrates that can be put toward plant biomass or fruit mass

Thermoregulation
1) Lead: A unique property of the Nelumbo genus is that it can generate heat, which is does by using the alternative oxidase pathway (AOX) . This pathway involves a different exchange of electrons from the usual pathway that electrons follow when generating energy in mitochondria.

2) The Alternative Oxidase Pathway in Nelumbo  : The typical pathway in plant mitochondria involves cytochrome complexes. The pathway used to generate heat in Nelumbo involves alternative oxidase, which is cyanide-resistant. The plant also reduces ubiquitin concentrations while in thermogenesis, which allows the AOX in the plant to function without degradation. This alternative pathway is used much more by the plant than the typical cytochrome pathway, and the excess heat produced allows the plant to heat itself up.

3) Location of thermogenesis in lotus : Thermogenesis is restricted to the receptacle, stamen, and petals of the flower, but each of these parts produce heat independently.

4) Purpose of thermogenesis in lotus  : Put simply, it attracts pollinators. Many theories are offered, but none have been conclusively proved. One theory suggests that heated flowers attract insect pollinators; as they warm themselves up in the flower, they deposit and pick up pollen onto and from the flower. Other theories say that the heat helps release volatile compounds into the air to attract pollinators that are flying over water, or that the heat is recognizable in the dark by thermo-sensitive pollinators.

5) Loss of thermogenicity : The receptacle of the lotus transitions from a primarily thermogenic to a photosynthetic structure, as seen in the rapid and dramatic increase in photosystems, photosynthetically involved pigments, electron transport rates, and the presence of 13C in the receptacle and petals, all of which assist in increasing photosynthesis rates.