Mechanical optimization system to control the posture restoring force in plants

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Elucidation of the strategies of mechanical optimization in plants toward the establishment of the bases for sustainable structure system
• Project/Area Number: 18H05496
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Complex systems
• Research Institution: Konan University
• Principal Investigator: Ueda Haruko 甲南大学, 理工学部, 准教授 (90402776)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 岩渕 功誠 大阪医科薬科大学, 医学部, 助教 (30583471)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-06-29 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: アクチン / ミオシンXI / 姿勢制御 / 植物細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Plant organs bend against environmental stimuli such as gravity and light, while they straighten which prevents hyperbending and adjusts plant posture. Using data-model combined method, we identified when and where the mechanical forces are applied on the inflorescence stems of the wild type Arabidopsis plants and the straightening-defective mutant during gravitropic bending. Our results suggest that the straightening behavior is a mechanically essential process for plant organs to reduce stress caused by gravitropic bending.

Free Research Field

植物細胞生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

植物がまっすぐに伸びる性質は，植物学者に限らず多くの人によって認識されている．それにも関わらず，この基本的な性質の意義やしくみはほとんど理解されていなかった．本研究では，まっすぐになる性質に欠陥をもつシロイヌナズナ変異体を用いた実験データと数理モデル解析を組合せることによって，植物のもつ基本的な性質の重要性を「力学」という新たな視点を取り入れて明らかにした．