Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 14, 2025

Imaging Spatial Reorganization of a MAPK Signaling Pathway Using the Tobacco Transient Expression System
Published on: March 20, 2016
Mathematical modeling of plant cell fate transitions controlled by hormonal signals
Filip Z Klawe1, Thomas Stiehl1,2,3, Peter Bastian2
1Institute of Applied Mathematics, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Abstract:
Coordination of fate transition and cell division is crucial to maintain the plant architecture and to achieve efficient production of plant organs. In this paper, we analysed the stem cell dynamics at the shoot apical meristem (SAM) that is one of the plant stem cells locations. We designed a mathematical model to elucidate the impact of hormonal signaling on the fate transition rates between different zones corresponding to slowly dividing stem cells and fast dividing transit amplifying cells. The model is based on a simplified two-dimensional disc geometry of the SAM and accounts for a continuous displacement towards the periphery of cells produced in the central zone. Coupling growth and hormonal signaling results in a nonlinear system of reaction-diffusion equations on a growing domain with the growth rate depending on the model components. The model is tested by simulating perturbations in the level of key transcription factors that maintain SAM homeostasis. The model provides new insights on how the transcription factor HECATE is integrated in the regulatory network that governs stem cell differentiation.
Related Concept Videos
Cell Signaling in Plants
Morphogenesis
Cells Coordinate Growth and Proliferation
Plant Hormones
Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses
The Cell Cycle Control System
Cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) are the primary cell cycle regulators and...

