Seminaris en biofísica/biomatemática, 29 d'Octubre, 12:30, Aula S.1 EPSEB

Marta Ibañes
Departament d'Estructura i Constituents de la Matèria -Universitat de Barcelona

Modeling vascular patterning in the inflorescence stem of Arabidopsis

The plant vascular system provides transport and support capabilities that are essential for plant growth and development. The variety and complexity of vascular patterns among plant species have attracted the attention of both biologists and mathematicians for many years, yet the mechanisms directing the radial and periodic arrangement of vascular bundles within the shoot apical meristem are not known. In this talk I will present our work on vascular bundle spacing in Arabidopsis shoot inflorescence stem. By means of mathematical modeling and experimental biology, I will shed light on the roles two plant hormones, auxin and Brassinosteroids, have in setting the vascular bundle pattern. Overall, our study reveals that an auxin transport-based mechanism coupled to BR-control of cell dynamics is sufficient to determine the radial pattern of vascular bundles in Arabidopsis shoots.