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Science 12 December 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5908, pp. 1650 - 1655
DOI: 10.1126/science.1165594
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Research Articles

Developmental Patterning by Mechanical Signals in Arabidopsis

Olivier Hamant,1,2* Marcus G. Heisler,3* Henrik Jönsson,4* Pawel Krupinski,4 Magalie Uyttewaal,1,2 Plamen Bokov,5,6 Francis Corson,5 Patrik Sahlin,4 Arezki Boudaoud,5 Elliot M. Meyerowitz,3{dagger} Yves Couder,6{dagger} Jan Traas1,2{dagger}

A central question in developmental biology is whether and how mechanical forces serve as cues for cellular behavior and thereby regulate morphogenesis. We found that morphogenesis at the Arabidopsis shoot apex depends on the microtubule cytoskeleton, which in turn is regulated by mechanical stress. A combination of experiments and modeling shows that a feedback loop encompassing tissue morphology, stress patterns, and microtubule-mediated cellular properties is sufficient to account for the coordinated patterns of microtubule arrays observed in epidermal cells, as well as for patterns of apical morphogenesis.

1 INRA, Laboratoire de Reproduction et Développement des Plantes, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France.
2 Université de Lyon, CNRS, ENS, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France.
3 Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
4 Computational Biology and Biological Physics Group, Department of Theoretical Physics, Lund University, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
5 Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France.
6 Matière et Systèmes Complexes, Université Paris-Diderot, 10 rue Alice Domont et Léonie Duquet, 75025 Paris Cedex 13, France.

* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jan.traas{at}ens-lyon.fr (J.T.); meyerow{at}caltech.edu (E.M.M.); couder{at}lps.ens.fr (Y.C.)

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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From the Cover: Turning a plant tissue into a living cell froth through isotropic growth.
F. Corson, O. Hamant, S. Bohn, J. Traas, A. Boudaoud, and Y. Couder (2009)
PNAS 106, 8453-8458
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A Role for Arabidopsis PUCHI in Floral Meristem Identity and Bract Suppression.
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Mechanical Signals Trigger Myosin II Redistribution and Mesoderm Invagination in Drosophila Embryos.
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E-Letters:

Read all E-Letters

Mechanical Signals in Arabidopsis: Stress or Strain?
Peter Schopfer
Science Online, 23 Apr 2009 [Full text]
Response to P. Schopfer's E-Letter
Elliot Meyerowitz, et al.
Science Online, 23 Apr 2009 [Full text]

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