Fruit Morphogenesis in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>

The gynoecium is the female reproductive organ of a plant, that eventually becomes a fruit. While the development of this organ is well studied from a genetic perspective, little is know of the mechanical factors controlling gynoecium growth and form. Here, we investigate how mechanics affect both local deformation and the final organ shape in a growing gynoecium. We propose that organ shape emerges from the differences in specified growth between tissues. The growth incompatibilities between tissues also result in residual stresses, which determine local expansion patterns on the organ surface. The evolution of this organ’s shape is modelled with finite elements, using thermal expansion as a proxy for material growth. We compare simulation results with biological growth values obtained from live imaging of the gynoecium of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.. Our work provides some insight into the bio-mechanical factors controlling plant organ shape during development.