Speaker
Description
The genetic underpinnings that define tissue shape and function are still an open question. Part of the answer is in the biomechanics of cells and tissues and in the cross-talk between biomechanics and biochemistry. In particular, plants exhibit differential growth mediated by the viscous and plastic properties of the cell wall and the spatial distribution of chemical patterns.
We are working on a 3D version of the plant modelling package VirtualLeaf, i.e., a quantitative multiscale three-dimensional vertex model of plant development. The final goal is to combine cell wall mechanics with known models of growth, genetic regulation, and water transport, to model plant tissues developing through regulated cell divisions and growth.
We will present first results, in which we validate a simulation of uniaxial cell elongation with well-established models and solutions (the Lockhart equations). We will show that our model is capable of capturing the mechanical frustration arising naturally from models of plant cell growth, when accounting for spatial heterogeneity of mechanical parameters and multicellularity. We also explore the possible three-dimensional structures arising from different cells division rules, and whether the three-dimensionality and cell division rules change known relationships between cell volume, pressure and number of neighbours, typically measured only on the epidermis.
