Curvature-driven spatial patterns in growing 3D domains: A mechanochemical model for phyllotaxis.

ABSTRACT: Here we discuss the formation of phyllotactic patterns in the shoot apical meristem (SAM) of plants, where the spatial distribution of the phytohormone auxin determines phyllotaxis in a domain that is growing and changing in time. We assume that the concentration of auxin modifies the mechanical properties of the domain and that the mechanical stress field in the SAM orients the flux of auxin. To study this problem we propose a mechanism for pattern formation in growing domains with variable curvature. The dynamics of chemicals is modeled by a reaction-diffusion system that produces a three dimensional pattern of chemical concentrations that changes the stress field in the domain while growing. The growth process is modeled by a phase-field order parameter which determines the location of

SUBMITTER: Rueda-Contreras MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6095518 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature