Love Me Not Meter: A Sensor Device for Detecting Petal Detachment Forces in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abscission is the developmentally controlled loss of plant organs, providing diverse functions such as shedding senescent or diseased leaves, dispersing seeds, or dropping ripened fruit. This process is defined by the hydrolytic breakdown of the middle lamella in the abscission zone, allowing for organ detachment. While the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana does not undergo leaf abscission, it does have a predictable progression of floral organ abscission. To study abscission zone physical integrity in Arabidopsis, a breakstrength meter for Arabidopsis was developed to reliably measure the petal detachment forces.