Exploring the relation between apical growth, organ formation and cell wall mechanics across land plant species

Abstract

The rapid cell growth that is associated with the formation of new lateral organs in the shoot apical meristem was linked to an increase in cell wall elasticity but not viscosity in the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana. To investigate the generality of this puzzling relationship, we explored in seven plant species, covering a wide diversity across land plants, the changes in mechanical properties of the cell walls that occur during organ formation. We show that, despite the considerable variation in cell wall composition among the species tested, a drop in cell wall stiffness systematically accompanied primordia formation. We also observed that meristem activity correlates with cell wall elasticity in three species. Thus it seems that cell wall elasticity and growth rate in the meristem are correlated across the land plants.