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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Live Cell Imaging of Microtubule Cytoskeleton and Micromechanical Manipulation of the Arabidopsis Shoot Apical Meristem
Published on: May 23, 2020
Computer simulations reveal properties of the cell-cell signaling network at the shoot apex in Arabidopsis
Pierre Barbier de Reuille1, Isabelle Bohn-Courseau, Karin Ljung
1Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Unité Mixte de Recherche Botanique et Bio-informatique de l'Architecture des Plantes, TA40/PSII Boulevard de la Lironde, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Abstract:
The active transport of the plant hormone auxin plays a major role in the initiation of organs at the shoot apex. Polar localized membrane proteins of the PIN1 family facilitate this transport, and recent observations suggest that auxin maxima created by these proteins are at the basis of organ initiation. This hypothesis is based on the visual, qualitative characterization of the complex distribution patterns of the PIN1 protein in Arabidopsis. To take these analyses further, we investigated the properties of the patterns using computational modeling. The simulations reveal previously undescribed properties of PIN1 distribution. In particular, they suggest an important role for the meristem summit in the distribution of auxin. We confirm these predictions by further experimentation and propose a detailed model for the dynamics of auxin fluxes at the shoot apex.
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