Hydromechanical field theory of plant morphogenesis

TL;DR

This paper develops a physical field theory modeling plant morphogenesis as a poromorphoelastic process, integrating hydromechanical interactions and nonlocal regulation mechanisms to explain tissue growth and development.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanistic framework treating plant tissue as a growing poroelastic medium, linking physical fields with biological growth processes.

Findings

Plants grow through water-driven mechanical deformations.

The theory predicts complex water potential gradients influence growth.

Nonlocal water regulation mechanisms are fundamental in morphogenesis.

Abstract

The growth of plants is a hydromechanical phenomenon in which cells enlarge by absorbing water, while their walls expand and remodel under turgor-induced tension. In multicellular tissues, where cells are mechanically interconnected, morphogenesis results from the combined effect of local cell growths, which reflects the action of heterogeneous mechanical, physical, and chemical fields, each exerting varying degrees of nonlocal influence within the tissue. To describe this process, we propose a physical field theory of plant growth. This theory treats the tissue as a poromorphoelastic body, namely a growing poroelastic medium, where growth arises from pressure-induced deformations and osmotically-driven imbibition of the tissue. From this perspective, growing regions correspond to hydraulic sinks, leading to the possibility of complex non-local regulations, such as water competition and growth-induced water potential gradients. More in general, this work aims to establish foundations for a mechanistic, mechanical field theory of morphogenesis in plants, where growth arises from the interplay of multiple physical fields, and where biochemical regulations are integrated through specific physical parameters.