An Extended Computational Morphodynamics Approach to Understand Self Organization in Plant Growth Control

Phloem is a specialized plant tissue that is responsible for the transport of nutrients and signaling molecules across the plant body. The root apical meristem represents a unique model to study how this tissue originates and differentiates from the stem cells pool, as the spatial and temporal components of this developmental process coincide and overlap with the major axis of the root apex.

The aim of the project is to understand this key process in plant growth in the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana. We will first investigate the role of several molecular genetic factors that positively or negatively regulate this differentiation process, and quantify their activities along the spatio-temporal gradient.

Subsequently, by implementing the identified molecular networks in a dynamic model of the developing phloem, we aim to determine whether and how phloem formation within the root meristem could be a self-organizing process.

Mot-clé: Plant development, growth model, phloem, arabidopsis