Quantifying Shape Changes and Tissue Deformation in Leaf Development1[C][W][OPEN]

• Published in: Plant physiology (Bethesda) 2014-04, Vol.165 (2), p.496-505
• Main Authors: Rolland-Lagan, Anne-Gaëlle, Remmler, Lauren, Girard-Bock, Camille
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breakthrough Technologies
• ISSN: 0032-0889; 1532-2548
• DOI: 10.1104/pp.113.231258

A computational method for quantifying three-dimensional surfaces and local surface deformations of leaves during development provides a new tool to investigate the control of leaf morphogenesis . The analysis of biological shapes has applications in many areas of biology, and tools exist to quantify organ shape and detect shape differences between species or among variants. However, such measurements do not provide any information about the mechanisms of shape generation. Quantitative data on growth patterns may provide insights into morphogenetic processes, but since growth is a complex process occurring in four dimensions, growth patterns alone cannot intuitively be linked to shape outcomes. Here, we present computational tools to quantify tissue deformation and surface shape changes over the course of leaf development, applied to the first leaf of Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ). The results show that the overall leaf shape does not change notably during the developmental stages analyzed, yet there is a clear upward radial deformation of the leaf tissue in early time points. This deformation pattern may provide an explanation for how the Arabidopsis leaf maintains a relatively constant shape despite spatial heterogeneities in growth. These findings highlight the importance of quantifying tissue deformation when investigating the control of leaf shape. More generally, experimental mapping of deformation patterns may help us to better understand the link between growth and shape in organ development.