Plant biomechanics and mechanobiology are convergent paths to flourishing interdisciplinary research

Over recent decades, there has been a real renaissance of interest in how inner and outer mechanical forces influence biological systems at all scales from macromolecules up to functional ecology. Many areas of animal and medical science are being reshaped by considering biomechanical and mechanobiological aspects, like stiffness-driven differentiation of stem cells, embryo development, tumour invasion, bone and cartilage adaptation, cardiac and arterial remodelling, brain neurobiology, touch and haptics, motion control, and proprioception (e.g. Discher et al., 2005; Stoltz et al., 2005, Boccafoschi et al., 2013; Bukoreshtliev et al., 2013). The same is true and no less impressive in plant sciences where researchers continue to be fascinated by the features that plants have evolved in order to grow and sense, withstand, acclimate, and adapt to the mechanical challenges they face. But what are the major frontiers in plant biomechanics and mechanobiology, the hotspots where physical and biological disciplines cross over? Is this really a new field or can we trace it back in time, and if so, how far? And what exactly do the seemingly mirror-image names biomechanics and mechanobiology mean?