Plants respond to soil and atmospheric water deficits through strategies such as stomatal regulation and belowground adaptations. Root mucilage buffers erratic fluctuations in the rhizosphere water content, yet its influence on soil hydraulic properties, especially unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, and stomatal regulation remains unknown. We hypothesized that mucilage facilitates water...
Mechanical stresses play a central role during the morphogenesis of multicellular structures. Not only do they generate tissue deformations but they also provide cells with signals triggering differentiation and pacing development. This is especially true in growing plant epithelia where turgidity generates tremendous stresses within cell walls. From a systematic perspective, one can wonder...
Twisted shapes in plants, seen in helical roots, spiral grains and climbing vines, are both ubiquitous and consequential. They affect crop yield, impact lumber quality, and inspire biomimetic robotics. Understanding their mechanical origins begins at the single-cell level. The cell wall is a complex material: a pectin matrix reinforced by cellulose microfibrils that dynamically reorient during...
While the rest of the plant does not show any twisting or coiling, the valves of Cardamine hirsuta coil with fixed right-handedness when released from the rest of the fruit at the end of its maturation. Through multi-scale biomechanical modeling of the valve, supported by live confocal imaging data of cortical microtubules (CMT), we show how CMT dynamics in the final phases of valve...
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...
How morphogenesis at a tissue level depends on cellular properties is an active direction of research. We focus on mechanical models of growing plant tissues, where cells are pressurized, a rigid cell wall resists, and the resulting elastic strain or stress generates growth in the walls. In order to establish links between microscopic and macroscopic properties, we adopt here the results of a...
Spatial self-organisation arises in many contexts. A classical example is Rayleigh-Bรฉnard convection: when the temperature between a heated bottom plate and a cooler top plate grows beyond a certain threshold, convection cells form. Busse balloons are a (graphical) representation of these patterns. A prominent example in ecology is dryland vegetation. If yearly precipitation falls below some...
How would you build a plant? Where to place the cell walls? Does this even matter? Due to turgor pressure, plant cell walls must resist substantial tensile stresses, and if not managed properly, they can lead to structural damage or an ineffective use of resources. Since plant cells are rigidly connected to one another, to resist this mechanical stress, precise control over the placement of...
Plants now lie at the core of strategies aimed at addressing major global challenges, from ensuring food security and capturing atmospheric carbon to preserving soil quality and halting desertification. At the same time, plant production systems are becoming more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and increased frequency...
