Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Responses to Gravity and Touch

Responses to Gravity and Touch

Gravitropism: Plant Responses to Gravity

Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light

Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light

Light plays a significant role in regulating the growth and development of plants. In addition to providing energy for photosynthesis, light provides other important cues to regulate a range of developmental and physiological responses in plants.

Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses

Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses

The circadian—or biological—clock is an intrinsic, timekeeping, molecular mechanism that allows plants to coordinate physiological activities over 24-hour cycles called circadian rhythms. Photoperiodism is a collective term for the biological responses of plants to variations in the relative lengths of dark and light periods. The period of light-exposure is called the photoperiod.

Cell Signaling in Plants

Cell Signaling in Plants

Plant cells communicate to coordinate their cycle of growth, flowering and fruiting, and activities in roots, shoots, and leaves in response to the changing environmental conditions. Plant signaling is distinct from animal signaling. Plants primarily utilize enzyme-linked receptors, whereas the largest class of cell-surface receptors in animals are G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Unlike animals, receptor tyrosine kinases are rare in plants. Instead, plants have a diverse class of...

Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores

Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores

Plants present a rich source of nutrients for many organisms, making it a target for herbivores and infectious agents. Plants, though lacking a proper immune system, have developed an array of constitutive and inducible defenses to fend off these attacks.

Key Elements for Plant Nutrition

Key Elements for Plant Nutrition

Like all living organisms, plants require organic and inorganic nutrients to survive, reproduce, grow and maintain homeostasis. To identify nutrients that are essential for plant functioning, researchers have leveraged a technique called hydroponics. In hydroponic culture systems, plants are grown—without soil—in water-based solutions containing nutrients. At least 17 nutrients have been identified as essential elements required by plants. Plants acquire these elements from the atmosphere, the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Synthetic pectin-cellulose nanofiber capsule recapitulates the mechanical properties of a regenerating plant cell wall.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same author

The Rapid Mechanically Activated channel transduces increases in plasma membrane tension into transient calcium influx.

The New phytologist·2026

Same author

Calcium-triggered apoplastic ROS bursts balance gravity and mechanical signals for soil navigation.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026

Same author

Gain and loss of gene function shaped the nickel hyperaccumulation trait in Noccaea caerulescens.

The Plant cell·2025

Same author

Allometric cell spreading and the geometrical control of focal adhesion collective organization.

Biophysical journal·2025

Same author

Straining the root on and off triggers local calcium signalling.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 12, 2026

A Labor-saving and Repeatable Touch-force Signaling Mutant Screen Protocol for the Study of Thigmomorphogenesis of a Model Plant Arabidopsis thaliana

A Labor-saving and Repeatable Touch-force Signaling Mutant Screen Protocol for the Study of Thigmomorphogenesis of a Model Plant Arabidopsis thaliana

Published on: August 6, 2019

Sensing forces: How plants convert mechanical cues into biological responses.

Pauline Vinet¹, Jean-Marie Frachisse¹, Sébastien Thomine¹

¹Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS UMR 9198, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

Developmental Cell

|June 10, 2026

Summary

Plants sense mechanical forces through mechanotransduction, enabling adaptive development. This process decodes diverse mechanical signals for survival and plasticity in changing environments.

Keywords:

cell wall cytoskeleton mechanosensitive ion channels mechanotransduction morphogenesis plants plasma membrane

More Related Videos

Robotic Sensing and Stimuli Provision for Guided Plant Growth

Robotic Sensing and Stimuli Provision for Guided Plant Growth

Published on: July 1, 2019

Wide-Field, Real-Time Imaging of Local and Systemic Wound Signals in Arabidopsis

Wide-Field, Real-Time Imaging of Local and Systemic Wound Signals in Arabidopsis

Published on: June 4, 2021

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 12, 2026

A Labor-saving and Repeatable Touch-force Signaling Mutant Screen Protocol for the Study of Thigmomorphogenesis of a Model Plant Arabidopsis thaliana

A Labor-saving and Repeatable Touch-force Signaling Mutant Screen Protocol for the Study of Thigmomorphogenesis of a Model Plant Arabidopsis thaliana

Published on: August 6, 2019

Robotic Sensing and Stimuli Provision for Guided Plant Growth

Robotic Sensing and Stimuli Provision for Guided Plant Growth

Published on: July 1, 2019

Wide-Field, Real-Time Imaging of Local and Systemic Wound Signals in Arabidopsis

Wide-Field, Real-Time Imaging of Local and Systemic Wound Signals in Arabidopsis

Published on: June 4, 2021

Area of Science:

Plant biology
Mechanobiology
Cellular signaling

Background:

Plants face mechanical constraints from environmental factors and growth processes.
Sensing these mechanical cues is vital for plant development and environmental adaptation.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide an overview of mechanical constraints on plants at various scales.
To explore the mechanisms of mechanotransduction in plants.
To discuss the downstream responses to mechanical stimuli.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on plant mechanobiology.
Analysis of mechanical constraints from organelle to organ levels.
Examination of distinct mechanotransduction pathways.

Main Results:

Identified mechanical constraints across multiple plant scales.
Highlighted mechanotransduction modes involving lipid sensing, cell wall status, and cytoskeletal reorganization.
Detailed diverse downstream responses and their temporal dynamics.

Conclusions:

Plant mechanotransduction involves diverse sensing mechanisms.
Plants can decode specific mechanical signatures (intensity, duration, frequency).
This decoding enables adaptive cellular and developmental responses for plasticity.