A computational framework for cortical microtubule dynamics in realistically shaped plant cells (PLOS Comp Biol)

Plant growth and development consist of highly organized cellular patterns and depend on the directional growth and orientation of cells. Understanding microtubule dynamics is key to deciphering the formation of cellular shape and growth direction. In this research, Chakrabortty  et al. employed analytical and computational modeling approaches to simulate microtubule dynamics. They used confocal images and segmented different cell shapes using morphographX software. For each segmented shape, they created a triangulated surface mesh and tagged different cell-edges and cell-faces by using meshLab software. They exploited the model to study the geometry of leaf pavement cells of Arabidopsis thaliana, Nicotiana benthamiana and Hedera helix. (Summary by Arif Ashraf) PLOS Computational Biology: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005959