title: Gradient Mechanical Properties Facilitate Arabidopsis Trichome as Mechanosensor.
abstract: It has been reported that Arabidopsis thaliana leaf trichome can act as a mechanosensory switch, transducing mechanical stimuli into physiological signals, mainly through a buckling instability to focus external force (e.g., exerted by insects) on the base of trichome. The material and structural properties of trichomes remain largely unknown in this buckling instability. In this report, we mainly focused on material standpoint to explore the possible mechanism facilitating the buckling instability. We observed that the Young's modulus of trichome cell wall decreased gradually from branch to the base region of trichome. Interestingly, we also found a corresponding decline of calcium concentration on the trichome cell wall. Results of finite element method (FEM) simulation suggested that such a gradient distribution of Young's modulus significantly promotes force focusing and buckling instability on the base of trichome. It is indicated that Arabidopsis trichome has developed into an active mechanosensor benefiting from gradient cell wall mechanical properties.
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, P. R. China.|Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Agricultural University of Hebei , Baoding 071001, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Li Hong
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, P. R. China.|State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Structure Strength and Vibration, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jiaojiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, P. R. China.|State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Structure Strength and Vibration, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shaobao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhanming
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, P. R. China.|State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Structure Strength and Vibration, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Tian Jian
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, P. R. China.|Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an 710049, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D003198:Computer Simulation; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular; D064201:Trichomes / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium
keywords: Arabidopsis trichome; Young’s modulus; calcium concentration; mechanosensor; papillae