On the morning of July 11th, professor Chi Yen, the famous botanist and crop genetics and breeding scientist, made an academic report to teachers and students of college of life science, introducing the construction of organs of the higher plants-the multiple secondary axis theory. This report was presided over by Chunbang Ding, the college party secretary, and attracted almost 40 participants to attend.
“Construction of organs of the higher plants-the multiple secondary axis theory” published recently by Professor Yen, the 93-year-old famous scholar, is his other masterpiece after the completion of 5 volumes of “Triticeae Biosystematics”.
In the lecture, Professor Yen pointed out that the theory of higher plant organ morphology is the basic knowledge necessary for crop breeding. However, he found there is a significant contradiction between the formation of the spikelet and the two existing theories including the stem and leaf section theory and the top branch theory in the study of wheat developmental morphology, which prompted him re-done a review of studies on problems of the structure of the higher plant organ and the law of organ construction from the point of view, putting forward the multiple secondary axis theory. Taking use of over 100 pieces of fine hand drawing and photos, he analyzed the contradictions among the current popular theories of higher plant organ morphology and practice, and vividly demonstrated his achievement-the multiple secondary axis, which is the common basic structure of all higher plant organ construction.
Even at the age of 93, Professor Yen’s clear and loud voice, broad and concentrated ideas, thick and novel view, and the master scientist temperament deeply touched every teacher and student present. He also taught participants to read “two books”, one is the already published, reading for the accumulation of basic knowledge; the other is the nature, reading for discovering problems from the objective practice.
