Benchmarking growth - how fast do plant cells expand during development?

Quantifying cell growth is essential for understanding the biophysics of development. Yet, we do not have a simple answer to basic questions, such as "How fast can a plant cell grow?; How does it compare to animal cells?; What growth should we expect for a given organ at a given developmental stage?". For over a hundred years, the rate of plant growth has been analysed, from measuring dry biomass increase to the expansion of a single cell. The majority of this data is not easily directly comparable, even between articles from the same research group. In our meta-analysis, we aim to standardise the growth rate data presented in several articles in order to make a direct comparison between studies of the same plant organ. We then extend this approach to distinguish the differences in growth pattern of different organs including the apparent juxtaposition of exponential versus linear growth in certain organs. We collate this data and present it as a reference for expected growth rates with controlled growth conditions, to serve as a benchmark for experimentalists and modellers. Finally, we propose a template for calculating and presenting growth rates and a simple method for comparing different types of data.