The big event’s timing is determined by changing chemistry in the tiny abscission zone, a narrow band of cells at the base of each petiole, or leaf stalk, where it attaches to the stem or branch.

More information: Xiaohong Wen et al, MYB74 transcription factor guides de novo specification of epidermal cells in the abscission zone of Arabidopsis, Nature Plants (2025).

Secondary cell division characteristically occurs in the abscission zone at the base of the petiole of leaves of many kinds of plants, and the cells resulting from this division have long been ...

In many cases, the abscission zones form but do not activate until moisture relieves the stress so that the trees can remove some nutrients from the leaves before discarding them.

Before abscission, high cellulase activity develops in cells of the abscission zone, suggesting that this enzyme plays an important part in cell separation. Cellulase activity rises in response to ...

When the abscission process is altered, the number of marcescent leaves may increase and include tree species that normally drop their leaves. Not all trees are affected the same way.

Anatomical analysis of two sunflower cultivars revealed a differentiated region at the junction of the flowers' petal and achene. Cell division at the abscission zone of the short-lived cultivar ...