Taking directions: self-organization of cortical microtubule array in plants

Statistical Physics and Complexity Group meeting

Taking directions: self-organization of cortical microtubule array in plants

  • Event time: 11:30am
  • Event date: 10th October 2012
  • Speaker: Bela Mulder (AMOLF)
  • Location: Room 2511,

Event details

The majority of plant cells grow by expansion along single axis. To control this direction they employ a unique structure, the so-called transverse microtubule array. A dynamic network of microtubules bound to inside of the plasma membrane self-organizes into this highly aligned and robustly oriented structure. We have developed both an analytical model as well as an event-driven simulation scheme to elucidate how collisions between the dynamic microtubules lead to the observed ordering, employing a molecular-level selection mechanism we have dubbed "survival of the aligned". We will discuss the application of our model to data from the build-up of the cortical array after cytokinesis and division plane selection in developmental mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana.