Self-Organizing Mechanics
Plant Development
During plant development, tissues morph into shapes or aquire patterns due to the feedback of tissues-wide mechanical stresses and ensuing biochemical patterns or plant cell growth.
- Mechanical forces instruct division plane orientation of cambium stem cells during radial growth in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Mathias Höfler, Xiaomin Liu, Thomas Greb, Karen Alim
Current Biology 10.1016 (2024)., bioRxiv 2024.05.23.595483 (2024) [PDF]
- Auxin-mediated stress relaxation in pericycle and endoderm remodeling drives lateral root initiation.
João R. D. Ramos, Blanca Jazmin Reyes-Hernández, Karen Alim, Alexis Maizel
Biophys. J.2024.06.017 (2024) [PDF] - Mechanotransduction in Lateral Root Initiation: A Model Integrating Growth Mechanics and Auxin Signaling.
Joao R. D. Ramos, Blanca Jazmin Reyes-Hernandez, Karen Alim, and Alexis Maizel,
[bioRxiv 2023] [PDF] - Tissue-wide integration of mechanical cues promotes efficient auxin patterning.
João R. D. Ramos, Alexis Maizel, and Karen Alim,
[Eur. Phys. J. Plus 2021] [bioRxiv 2021] [PDF] - Feedback from tissue mechanics self-organizes efficient outgrowth of plant organ.
Jason Khadka, Jean-Daniel Julien, and Karen Alim,
[Biophys. J. 2019] [arXiv 2020] [PDF] - Leaf growth is conformal.
Karen Alim, Shahaf Armon, Boris I. Shraiman, and Arezki Boudaoud ,
[Phys. Biol. 2016] [PDF] - Regulatory role of cell division rules on tissue growth heterogeneity.
Karen Alim, Olivier Hamant, and Arezki Boudaoud,
[Front. Plant Sci. 2012] [PDF] - Mechanical stress acts via katanin to amplify differences in growth rate between adjacent cells in Arabidopsis.
Magalie Uyttewaal*, Agata Burian*, Karen Alim*, Benoît Landrein, Dorota Borowska-Wykręt, Annick Dedieu, Alexis Peaucelle, Michał Ludynia, Jan Traas, Arezki Boudaoud**, Dorota Kwiatkowska**, and Olivier Hamant**,
[Cell 2012] [PDF] - Quantitative predictions on auxin-induced polar distribution of PIN proteins during vein formation in leaves.
Karen Alim and Erwin Frey,
[Eur. Phys. J. E 2010] [arXiv 2010] [PDF]
Gut Mechanics
Mechanical contractions along the small intestine, driving food transport along the longest route through our digestive tract, self-organize in response to signals transported within the flow.
- Changing flows balance nutrient absorption and bacterial growth along the gut.
Agnese Codutti, Jonas Cremer, and Karen Alim,
[Phys. Rev. Lett. 2022] [PDF] [Physics Focus] [Physics World] [Press English] [Press German] - Gut microbiota-motility interregulation: insights from in vivo, ex vivo and in silico studies.
Barbora Waclawiková, Agnese Codutti, Karen Alim, and Sahar El Aidy,
[Gut Microbes 2022] [PDF]
Self-Sustained Contractions
Cross-sectional contractions of fluid filled tubes form self-sustained travelling waves, where flow-transported molecules feed back onto contractions.
- Flux driven control of pulse length in excitable media.
Adrian Misselwitz, Suzanne Lafon, Jean-Daniel Julien, and Karen Alim,
[Phys. Rev. E 2023] [arXiv 2023] [PDF] - Oscillatory fluid flow drives scaling of contraction wave with system size.
Jean-Daniel Julien and Karen Alim,
[Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2018] [PDF]
Nuclei Order
Nuclei on the surface of the fruit fly embryo form ordered patterns and division dynamics due to active mechanics of nuclei embedding.
- Mechanical model of nuclei ordering in Drosophila embryos reveals dilution of stochastic forces.
Franz Kaiser, Zhiyi Lv, Daniel Marques Rodrigues, Jan Rosenbaum, Timo Aspelmeier, Jörg Großhans, and Karen Alim,
[Biophys. J. 2018] [PDF] - The emergent yo-yo movement of nuclei driven by cytoskeletal remodeling in pseudo-synchronous mitotic cycles.
Zhiyi Lv, Jan Rosenbaum, Stephan Mohr, Xiaozhu Zhang, Helen Preiß, Sebastian Kruss, Karen Alim, Timo Aspelmeier, and Jörg Großhans,
[bioRxiv 2019] [Curr. Biol. 2020] [PDF]