title: A stochastic multicellular model identifies biological watermarks from disorders in self-organized patterns of phyllotaxis.
abstract: Exploration of developmental mechanisms classically relies on analysis of pattern regularities. Whether disorders induced by biological noise may carry information on building principles of developmental systems is an important debated question. Here, we addressed theoretically this question using phyllotaxis, the geometric arrangement of plant aerial organs, as a model system. Phyllotaxis arises from reiterative organogenesis driven by lateral inhibitions at the shoot apex. Motivated by recurrent observations of disorders in phyllotaxis patterns, we revisited in depth the classical deterministic view of phyllotaxis. We developed a stochastic model of primordia initiation at the shoot apex, integrating locality and stochasticity in the patterning system. This stochastic model recapitulates phyllotactic patterns, both regular and irregular, and makes quantitative predictions on the nature of disorders arising from noise. We further show that disorders in phyllotaxis instruct us on the parameters governing phyllotaxis dynamics, thus that disorders can reveal biological watermarks of developmental systems.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Reproduction de développement des plantes, Lyon, France.|Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Yassin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Refahi
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Reproduction de développement des plantes, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Géraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brunoud
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.|Center for Integrative Plant Biology, The University of Nottingham, Notthingam, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Farcot
authors.affiliation: INRIA Project-Team Maestro, INRIA Sophia-Antipolis Méditerranée Research Center, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jean-Marie
authors.affiliation: UMR Lerfob, AgroParisTech, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Minna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pulkkinen
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Reproduction de développement des plantes, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Teva
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8257-4088
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vernoux
authors.affiliation: INRIA Project-Team Virtual Plants, CIRAD, INRA and INRIA Sophia-Antipolis Méditerranée Research Center, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1202-8460
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Godin
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000254:growth & development*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D008954:Models, Biological; D063245:Plant Development; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000254:growth & development*
keywords: A. thaliana; developmental biology; emergence; inhibitory fields; multi-scale modeling; noise; permutations; phyllotaxis; plant biology; stem cells