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Abstract Mechanical properties, size and geometry of cells, and internal turgor pressure greatly influence cell morphogenesis. Computational models of cell growth require values for wall elastic modulus and turgor pressure, but very few experiments have been designed to validate the results using measurements that deform the entire thickness of the cell wall. New wall material is synthesized at the inner surface of the cell such that full-thickness deformations are needed to quantify relevant changes associated with cell development. Here, we present an integrated, experimental–computational approach to analyze quantitatively the variation of elastic bending behavior in the primary cell wall of living Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) pavement cells and to measure turgor pressure within cells under different osmotic conditions. This approach used laser scanning confocal microscopy to measure the 3D geometry of single pavement cells and indentation experiments to probe the local mechanical responses across the periclinal wall. The experimental results were matched iteratively using a finite element model of the experiment to determine the local mechanical properties and turgor pressure. The resulting modulus distribution along the periclinal wall was nonuniform across the leaf cells studied. These results were consistent with the characteristics of plant cell walls which have a heterogeneous organization. The results and model allowed the magnitude and orientation of cell wall stress to be predicted quantitatively. The methods also serve as a reference for future work to analyze the morphogenetic behaviors of plant cells in terms of the heterogeneity and anisotropy of cell walls. 

Abstract Plant cell deformations are driven by cell pressurization and mechanical constraints imposed by the nanoscale architecture of the cell wall, but how these factors are controlled at the genetic and molecular levels to achieve different types of cell deformation is unclear. Here, we used stomatal guard cells to investigate the influences of wall mechanics and turgor pressure on cell deformation and demonstrate that the expression of the pectin-modifying gene PECTATE LYASE LIKE12 (PLL12) is required for normal stomatal dynamics in Arabidopsis thaliana. Using nanoindentation and finite element modeling to simultaneously measure wall modulus and turgor pressure, we found that both values undergo dynamic changes during induced stomatal opening and closure. PLL12 is required for guard cells to maintain normal wall modulus and turgor pressure during stomatal responses to light and to tune the levels of calcium cross-linked pectin in guard cell walls. Guard cell-specific knockdown of PLL12 caused defects in stomatal responses and reduced leaf growth, which were associated with lower cell proliferation but normal cell expansion. Together, these results force us to revise our view of how wall-modifying genes modulate wall mechanics and cell pressurization to accomplish the dynamic cellular deformations that underlie stomatal function and tissue growth in plants.