Lunch Pitch with Stefan Jansson and Stéphanie Robert

 

 

 

 

 

Several plant species develop fascinating jigsaw puzzle-shaped epidermal cells, called pavement cells, on their leaves, which form protruding outgrowths that interdigitate perfectly with those of their neighbour cells. The precise functions of these complicated shapes are not fully clear, but many potential roles have been hypothesized, including spacing out other epidermal cells, enhancing epidermal integrity, cell-cell adhesion, resistance to tension, mechanical strength and flexibility, reducing mechanical stress and allowing growth plasticity. Pavement cell shape regulation is a complex process, as previous research has revealed. Although we have some clues about various roles of the cell wall, mechanical stresses, the cytoskeleton and phytohormones in this process, many details still remain to be revealed. We would like to have some help on modeling the different types of regulations for pavement cell shape acquisition focusing on external and internal mechanical signals.