Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39870833›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2025

How the tulip breaking virus creates striped tulips.

Aidan A Wong, Gustavo Carrero, Thomas Hillen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Aidan A WongDepartment Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Gustavo CarreroCentre for Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Athabasca University, Athabasca, AB, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6264-2410
Thomas HillenDepartment of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. thillen@ualberta.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0819-9520

Funding

Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology) RGPIN-2023-04269
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The beauty of tulips has enchanted mankind for centuries. The striped variety has attracted particular attention for its intricate and unpredictable patterns. A good understanding of the mechanism driving the striped pattern formation of broken tulips has been missing since the 17th century. It has been known since 1928 that these patterned tulips suffer from a viral infection by the tulip breaking virus. Here, we present a mathematical model to understand how a virus infection of the petals can lead to stripes, thereby providing a possible explanation of a 350 year-old mystery. The model, which describes the viral inhibition of pigment expression (anthocyanins) and their interaction with viral reproduction, incorporates a pattern formation mechanism identified as an activator-substrate mechanism, similar to the well-known Turing instability, working together with Wolpert's positional information mechanism. The model is solved on a growing tulip petal-shaped domain, whereby we introduce a new method to describe the tulip petal growth explicitly. This work shows how a viral infection that inhibits pigment production can lead to beautiful tulip patterns.

Indexed as

FlowersPigmentationPlant DiseasesPlant VirusesTulipa

Identifiers

PMID39870833
PMCPMC11772565

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.