Open Collections

As simple as possible, but no simpler: coming to (mathematical) terms with the impact of fine temporal and spatial scales in plant developmental homeostasis

Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery

For years, I have been torn by a constant pressure to add more â detailâ to our cellular models of plant development while also being driven to capture the essence of a phenomenon. I hope to illustrate this conundrum by a case-study on plant development and nutrient uptake. Through modelling and mathematical analysis and combined with experimental verifications, I will show how 1) very fast temporal cellular responses are critical for maintaining steady-state tissue-level behaviour, even in the absence of external variation; and 2) how sub-cellular spatial compartments, such as the cell wall, enable tissue-scale patterns to arise that are fundamentally distinct from what is possible without these sub-cellular features. We were only able to achieve these insights by capturing certain â detailsâ within multilevel cellular models, only later realising their true significance. Nevertheless, the mechanisms, relying on detailed spatial and temporal structures in a multi-level setting, yielded parsimonious explanations.

Mathematics; Biology and other natural sciences; Mathematical biology

video/mp4

Author affiliation: Cardiff University

2019-03-12

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/68647

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/