The operation, which provides the creation of various shades and colors, looks quite simple. But all kinds of colors and shades in nature are a combination of complex combinations of the main pigments and various interactions with the environment. And they also depend on the location of the pigments in the tissues of the plant.
Actual studies show that pigments of natural origin (for the most part belonging to the group of phenols), which are contained in different tissues of plants, perform an important function in their life. Dyes that are in the cells of plants contribute to the most efficient absorption and processing of solar energy.
Plant pigments
All plant pigments are chemical filters that capture and process sunlight depending on the wavelength. You can consider the example of chlorophyll pigment, which is located in leaf cells. Chlorophyll “absorbs” only two types of sunlight: red and blue-violet. This type of sunlight is used in a chemical process called photosynthesis. It creates complex organic compounds obtained by plants from the surface of the earth's crust.
However, the situation with flowers of bright colors is somewhat different: these flowers absorb the sun's rays of a different wavelength and process them into other forms of chemical compounds and energy, due to the fact that they contain various pigments.Various forms of plant energy are used for many vital processes: for the maturation of eggs and pollen, the creation of aromatic oils.
Adaptation of plants to the environment
In general, it can be noted how plants are able to adapt to the environment through their own resources: characteristic pigmentation, the formation of a special structure and much more. So, for example, the cup-shaped corollas of flowers growing on the mountain slopes and in the Arctic zones create the effect of concave collective mirrors - reflecting and storing solar energy in the center of the flower, increase the temperature by several degrees, compared to the environment.
Flowers in the daytime turn after the movement of the sun and absorb its energy to the maximum. At sunset, closing or tilting the inflorescence down, the plant retains the maximum received light energy. Pigments also have a protective function. Their high content in the plant has a beneficial effect on the protection of the hereditary apparatus from various mutagenic effects.
Pigmentation of plants is also necessary to protect against oversaturation with sunlight. A great example is mountain flowers, which, with an increase in the level of height, change their color to brighter. An important function in this process is played by the pigment - melanin. Because of its structure, it can be represented in the form of a “molecular sieve” in which harmful radicals appear and appear under the influence of ultraviolet rays.Some families of microorganisms in which melanin is present have high UV resistance.
They live quietly and thrive in an atmosphere of more than seventy kilometers above sea level, in the mountains, in deserts, where their relatives die. Another property of melanin located in the cell membranes is the effective protection of microorganisms from enzymes produced by antagonistic microbes.
The distribution of plants on Earth is almost universal, with few exceptions. The amazing adaptability of plants to various areas of their growth is amazing. Often, it is even difficult to imagine how a fragile and delicate plant can easily grow in difficult, or even extreme, environmental conditions. Nature took care of its creatures, endowing them with many tools to survive, grow and give offspring.
