General Topic
How is plant root development affected by mechanical challenges? What kind of perturbations can we expect in a growing tissue when under mechanical stress? A body of work exists on the link between mehanical forces and plant development, at various scales1-2. Much less is understood of tissue self-organisation and regeneration under mechanical stress.
Moreover, an important aspect of this theme is understanding the effect of complex, structured space on root growth and regeneration.
Questions
We are very interested in understanding the link between mechanical stress and root regeneration, especially in conditions of artificially constrained environments. We are also trying to understand to which extent a regenerating tissue exhibits a characteristic growth dynamics, compared to a non-regenerating tissue, especially in constrained environments.
To this goal, we are developing ad hoc set-ups to live-image roots grown in a spectrum of physically challenging arenas.
Quantitative phenomenology will be coupled to computational modelling and molecular genetics, to learn more about the developmental processes affected.
Methods
- model system: Arabidopsis root
- molecular genetics
- live imaging
- quantitative image processing
- development of ad hoc assays and measuring setups
References
1. Sampathkumar, A., Yan, A., Krupinski, P. & Meyerowitz, E. M. Physical Forces Regulate Plant Development and Morphogenesis. Current Biology 24, R475–R483 (2014).
2. Hamant, O. Widespread mechanosensing controls the structure behind the architecture in plants. Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 16, 654–660 (2013).