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Wood Grain Pattern Formation: A Brief Review

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Abstract

In trees, new wood develops from a layer of stem cells called the vascular cambium. A subpopulation of cambial cells—the fusiform initials—are elongated and capable of coordinated reorientation in response to internal and external stimuli. Changes in the orientation of fusiform initials in turn leads to changes in the grain pattern of developing wood. This article reviews the phenomenon of cambial orientation, with an emphasis on a recent computer model that takes the plant hormone auxin as the orienting signal. New model results are presented that demonstrate the surprisingly complex grain patterns that can emerge from simple initial conditions, in qualitative agreement with similar patterns found in wood. Lastly, an alternative theory of wood grain pattern that takes mechanical stress as the orienting signal is critically evaluated.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Tobias Baskin, Mike Bergman, and Jennifer Normanly for helpful conversations, and Henrik Jonsson for a critical reading of the mansucript. Research assistants Mike Borkowski and Joe Groves made valuable contributions to the development of the model. This work was supported in part by Simon’s Rock College, and by the National Research Initiative of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, grant number 2003-35103-13793.

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  1. Physics Department, Simon’s Rock College, 84 Alford Road, Great Barrington, MA, 01230, USA

    Eric M. Kramer

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Correspondence to Eric M. Kramer.

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Kramer, E.M. Wood Grain Pattern Formation: A Brief Review. J Plant Growth Regul 25, 290–301 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-006-0065-y

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