title: Quantitative analyses of the plant cytoskeleton reveal underlying organizational principles.
abstract: The actin and microtubule (MT) cytoskeletons are vital structures for cell growth and development across all species. While individual molecular mechanisms underpinning actin and MT dynamics have been intensively studied, principles that govern the cytoskeleton organization remain largely unexplored. Here, we captured biologically relevant characteristics of the plant cytoskeleton through a network-driven imaging-based approach allowing us to quantitatively assess dynamic features of the cytoskeleton. By introducing suitable null models, we demonstrate that the plant cytoskeletal networks exhibit properties required for efficient transport, namely, short average path lengths and high robustness. We further show that these advantageous features are maintained during temporal cytoskeletal rearrangements. Interestingly, man-made transportation networks exhibit similar properties, suggesting general laws of network organization supporting diverse transport processes. The proposed network-driven analysis can be readily used to identify organizational principles of cytoskeletons in other organisms.
authors.affiliation: Systems Biology and Mathematical Modeling, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Muehlenberg 1, Potsdam 14476, Germany.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Breuer
authors.affiliation: Plant Cell Walls, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Muehlenberg 1, Potsdam 14476, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ivakov
authors.affiliation: Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Bateman Street, Cambridge CB2 1LR, UK.
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sampathkumar
authors.affiliation: Systems Biology and Mathematical Modeling, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Muehlenberg 1, Potsdam 14476, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hollandt
authors.affiliation: Plant Cell Walls, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Muehlenberg 1, Potsdam 14476, Germany ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls, School of Botany, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Staffan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.affiliation: Systems Biology and Mathematical Modeling, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Muehlenberg 1, Potsdam 14476, Germany nikoloski@mpimp-golm.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nikoloski
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008870:Microtubules / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008954:Models, Biological
keywords: complex networks; cytoskeletal networks; cytoskeletal transport; organizational principles; plant cell walls