Mechanics and Dynamics of Plant Cell Division

The division of eukaryotic cells involves the assembly of complex cytoskeletal structures to exert the forces required for chromosome segregation and cytokinesis. In plants, tensional forces within the cytoskeleton constrain cells to divide according to a small number of area minimizing configurations. We have shown that the probability of observing a particular division configuration increases inversely with its relative area according to an exponential probability distribution known as the Gibbs measure. The distribution is universal up to experimental accuracy with a unique constant that applies for all plants studied irrespective of the shape and size of their cells. Using a maximum entropy formulation, we were able to demonstrate that the empirically observed division rule is predicted by the dynamics of the tense cytoskeletal elements controlling the positioning of the division plane. Finally, by framing this division rule as a dynamical system, we identified a broad class of attractors that are predictive of cell patterns observed in plants. Plant cell division thus offers a remarkable example of how interactions at the molecular level can lead to strikingly complex behaviors at the cellular and multicellular levels.