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Programmable and Self-Organised Processes in Plant Morphogenesis: The Architectural Development of Ryegrass

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Morphogenetic Engineering

Part of the book series: Understanding Complex Systems ((UCS))

Abstract

The morphology of forage grass, in particular ryegrass, emerges from the combination of many entangled dynamical processes. Although a plant seems to possess an intrinsic (i.e., genetically determined) architecture, its morphogenesis also displays very high plasticity with respect to environmental conditions. This plasticity could be partly mediated by a self-regulatory process. Indeed, the architecture of a shoot can affect subsequent architectural development recursively. For instance, leaf length is directly influenced by the length of the preceding leaves. We present a functional-structural 3D model of ryegrass shoots based on the hypothesis that their morphogenesis obeys such self-regulatory processes. The behaviour and emergent properties of the model are highly compatible with observations regarding plant morphology development, genetic variability and plasticity. Experimental and simulation results therefore suggest that the architectural development of ryegrass could emerge from the collaborative association between genetic programmability and self-organisation, instead of resulting from a centralised control of each architectural trait.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Equipe d’Ecophysiologie des Plantes, Fourragères (UR4, URP3F) INRA, 86600, Lusignan, France

    Alban Verdenal, Didier Combes & Abraham Escobar-Gutiérrez

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  1. Alban Verdenal
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  2. Didier Combes
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  3. Abraham Escobar-Gutiérrez
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Correspondence to Abraham Escobar-Gutiérrez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Systèmes Complexes, Paris Ile-de-France, Ecole Polytechnique, rue Lhomond 57-59, Paris, 75005, France

    René Doursat

  2. Binghamton University, Dept. Bioengineering, State University of New York, Binghamton, 13902-6000, New York, USA

    Hiroki Sayama

  3. Faculté des Sciences et Technologie, Lab. LACL-EA 4219, Université Paris-Est Créteil, avenue due Général de Gaulle 61, Créteil Cedex, 94010, France

    Olivier Michel

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Verdenal, A., Combes, D., Escobar-Gutiérrez, A. (2012). Programmable and Self-Organised Processes in Plant Morphogenesis: The Architectural Development of Ryegrass. In: Doursat, R., Sayama, H., Michel, O. (eds) Morphogenetic Engineering. Understanding Complex Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33902-8_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33902-8_19

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