| Abstract | During this talk I will illustrate the strength of connecting modelling concepts to novel experiments in the field of Plant Development, emphasising how both can and should develop side-by-side. I will show how such an alliance has been important to shed light on problems of (i) Morphogen gradients, through the example of Arabidopsis root growth; (ii) Patterning of new organs, through the example of rhyzotaxy; and (iii) Cell Polarity, through the example of pavement cells -- jigsaw-shaped cells of leaves. We use multi-level modelling, which combines processes occurring at different space and time scales, and apply obtained modelling concepts to instruct and design experiments. I will illustrate that the three topics are actually connected: we found that macroscopic organ properties (the Arabidopsis root), cellular geometries, internal gradients and cell-polarity dynamics are intimately intertwined, and only together can account for plant morphogenesis on the correct spatial and temporal time scales. All these studies yield generalising concepts that I will discuss in the light of animal systems as well. |
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