title: When and where plant cells divide: a perspective from computational modeling.
abstract: Computational modeling of growing plant tissues raises two basic questions about plant cell division: when does a cell decide to divide and where is the new wall placed? Although biologists and modelers commonly assume that a cell divides after it reaches a threshold size, two recent experiments show that models with variable division sizes better replicate the tissue. Similarly, comparing model predictions with living plant cells reveals that the choice of division plane is variable, although the shortest path dividing a cell in half (i.e. the minimal surface area) is the most probable division plane.
authors.affiliation: Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology and Plant Biology Department, Cornell University, 239 Weill Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA. ahr75@cornell.edu
authors.forename: Adrienne H K
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Roeder
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D060049:Asymmetric Cell Division; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division; D016764:Cell Polarity; D048430:Cell Shape; D048429:Cell Size; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism*; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D003198:Computer Simulation; D018519:Meristem / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D059828:Plant Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D019441:Plant Epidermis / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins