Universitat de Barcelona
Title
Auxin hormonal transport in plants: Balance between entry and exit
Abstract
The conducting tissues of the plant, which transport water and nutrients, are spatially organized forming patterns. A cross section of the shoot of plant model organism Arabidopsis thaliana reveals a periodic pattern of these conducting tissues. We make use of a mathematical model to describe relevant features of this pattern and provide experimental evidence to support it. The model describes a mechanism for pattern formation that has been recurrently found in plants. This mechanism drives spontaneous symmetry breaking within cells and concomitantly at the tissue level through the transport of a hormone named auxin. Our results characterize novel aspects of this mechanism.
