The mechanics of plant root growth
- When?
- Friday 24 February 2012, 16:00 to 17:00
- Where?
- 22AA04
- Open to:
- Staff, Students
- Speaker:
- Rosemary Dyson (Birmingham)
Abstract: Growing plant cells undergo rapid axial elongation with negligible radial expansion: high internal turgor pressure causes viscous stretching of the cell wall.
We represent the cell wall as a thin fibre-reinforced viscous sheet, providing insight into the geometric and biomechanical parameters underlying bulk quantities such as wall extensibility and showing how either dynamical changes in material properties, achieved through changes in the cell-wall microstructure, or passive fibre reorientation may suppress cell elongation. We then investigate how the action of enzymes on the cell wall microstructure can lead to the required dynamic changes in macroscale wall material properties, and thus demonstrate a mechanism by which hormones may regulate plant growth.