Conformal growth of Arabidopsis leaves

JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY

卷:408

Article

Mitchison, Graeme¹ 

[1] Univ Cambridge, Sainsbury Lab, Cambridge, England

关键词: Leaf growth;    Conformal map;    Mobius transformation;    Growth control;    Gradient;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jtbi.2016.08.023

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

I show that Arabidopsis leaf growth can be described with good precision by a conformal map, where expansion is locally isotropic (the same in all directions) but the amount of expansion can vary with position. Data obtained by tracking leaf growth over time can be reproduced with almost 90% accuracy by such a map. The growth follows a Mobius transformation, which is a type of conformal map that would arise if there were an underlying linear gradient of growth rate. From the data one can derive the parameters that describe this linear gradient and show how it changes over time. Such a rule has the property of maintaining the flatness of a leaf. (C) 2016 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

【 授权许可】

Free