Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 22, 2026

Wide-Field, Real-Time Imaging of Local and Systemic Wound Signals in Arabidopsis
Published on: June 4, 2021
A logical (discrete) formulation for the storage and recall of environmental signals in plants
M Thellier1, J Demongeot, V Norris
1Laboratoire AMMIS, FRE CNRS 2829, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Rouen, 76821 Mont-Saint-Aignan Cedex, France. michel.thellier@univ-rouen.fr
Abstract:
When subjected to an appropriate asymmetric stimulus, seedlings of Bidens pilosa L. "store" a symmetry-breaking instruction that will finally take effect (in the form of a differential growth of the cotyledonary buds) only if the plants are in a state in which they can "recall" this information. The ability of the plants to recall the stored symmetry-breaking instruction may be switched "on" or "off" by the application of a variety of stimuli. Although its detailed phenomenology is rather complicated, the overall behaviour of the plant storage/recall system can be modelled by use of an asynchronous, logical (discrete) description involving positive and negative feedback circuits, which are required for the existence of multi-stationarity and stability, respectively. The state tables, as used in this formalism, give a concise and easy-to-handle description of the evolution of the system and make it particularly easy to determine its stable states. This modelling approach may be extended to the formulation of many other experimental systems.
Related Concept Videos
Cell Signaling in Plants
Short-distance Transport of Resources
Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light
Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses
Tonicity in Plants
Tonicity
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water depending on the solute...
Regulation of Transpiration by Stomata

