Periodic patterns of two cell fates in plant roots

Abstract

In Arabidopsis thaliana’s root growth, several stem cells differentiate to become protophloem cells. Those cells that do not differentiate become gap cells. This differentiation process is initiated when there are high amounts of a hormone called auxin within the cell. We study the transport of this hormone through the membrane of the cells as a dynamic system in order to study the conditions and mechanisms for gap cells to appear taking as reference the published article [1]. To do so, we simulate a model of one cell, a model of two cells and a model of multiple cells. From these simulations we conclude, as proposed and shown in [1], that bistability in one cell and a lateral inhibition mechanism between cells play a key role in the emergence of phenotypes with both gap cells and differentiated cells. For bistability and lateral inhibition to take place, the auxin available for the cells must not be too low nor too high