title: Quantitative imaging strategies pave the way for testable biological concepts.
abstract: In developmental biology, the accumulation of qualitative phenotypic descriptions has fueled the need for testable parsimonious hypotheses, giving a fresh impetus to quantitative strategies. As an illustration, thanks to the precise quantification of cell growth and microtubule behavior in a study published in BMC Plant Biology, Zhang and collaborators have identified sequential phases of polarized and isotropic growth in puzzle-shaped leaf epidermal cells, thus providing new clues to explore how growth coordination occurs in this tissue.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Reproduction et Développement des Plantes/Laboratoire Joliot Curie, INRA, CNRS, ENS, Université de Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France. olivier.hamant@ens-lyon.fr
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hamant
mesh_terms: D015509:Developmental Biology; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000166:cytology* / Q000254:growth & development; D013995:Time; D059008:Time-Lapse Imaging / Q000379:methods