Complexity and information in regular and random phyllotactic patterns.

Abstract

In biology, the theory of information has been used to study the degree of order of many living systems. Different concepts of entropy have been applied to the analysis of phyllotaxis. In the present paper we will determine the degree of order of disorganized patterns by using informational entropy concepts deduced from the work of Brillouin, Shannon, and Yagil. As case studies, we will apply these concepts of entropy to the disorganized patterns found in mutants of Arabidopsis. The calculation of entropy gives a precise idea of the degree of order of a phyllotactic system.