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Mechanobiology of cell division in plant growth
Author(s) -
Robinson Sarah
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.17369
Subject(s) - division (mathematics) , cell division , mechanobiology , stress (linguistics) , work (physics) , asymmetric cell division , cell , topology (electrical circuits) , biological system , materials science , microbiology and biotechnology , nanotechnology , biology , mechanical engineering , engineering , mathematics , biochemistry , linguistics , philosophy , arithmetic , electrical engineering
Summary Cell division in plants is particularly important as cells cannot rearrange. It therefore determines the arrangement of cells (topology) and their size and shape (geometry). Cell division reduces mechanical stress locally by producing smaller cells and alters mechanical properties by reinforcing the mechanical wall network, both of which can alter overall tissue morphology. Division orientation is often regarded as following geometric rules, however recent work has suggested that divisions align with the direction of maximal tensile stress. Mechanical stress has already been shown to feed into many processes of development including those that alter mechanical properties. Such an alignment may enable cell division to selectively reinforce the cell wall network in the direction of maximal tensile stress. Therefore there exists potential feedback between cell division, mechanical stress and growth. Improving our understanding of this topic will help to shed light on the debated role of cell division in organ scale growth.