Abstract
The highly orientationally ordered cortical microtubule array in plant cells is a key component for cell growth and development. Recent experimental and computational work has shown that the anisotropic nucleation of new microtubules from pre-existing microtubules has a major effect on the alignment process. We formulate a theoretical model to investigate the role of the microtubule-bound nucleation on the self-organization of the dynamical cortical microtubules. A bifurcation analysis of the stability of the disordered phase of the model reveals that the effective degree of co-aligned nucleation is the main determinant of the location of the transition. Increased co-aligned nucleation creates a positive feedback effect on the ordering process that can significantly widen the ordered region. We validate these predictions by comparing to the results of particle-based simulations.
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This work is part of the research programme of the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM), which is part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
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Foteinopoulos, P., Mulder, B.M. The Effect of Anisotropic Microtubule-Bound Nucleations on Ordering in the Plant Cortical Array. Bull Math Biol 76, 2907–2922 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-014-0039-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-014-0039-3