This is the legacy site of the
2018 Conference.
The next Plant Biomechanics Conference will take place in 2021 in Lyon, France
Invited Speakers
Karl Niklas
Cornell University, USA
Size-dependent variation in plant structure and function
Plant growth results in often dramatic changes in mechanical and physiological stresses that must be accommodated. How plants have adaptively accommodated these stresses, in the context of static and dynamic loads, hydraulics, and light interception will be discussed. Theory and empirical observations indicate the number of adaptive “solutions” to dealing with the requirements of growth in size increases with the number of functional obligations a plant must perform.
Gwyneth Ingram
Laboratoire Reproduction et Développement des Plantes, Lyon, France
Functional analysis of the DEK1 protein links the perception of mechanical cues to epidermal cell fate
Although mechanical cues have been proposed to be critically important for coordinating organ growth and morphogenesis, concrete links between plant mechanosensors and growth coordination have remained elusive. Recent results highlighting the role of the developmentally important DEK1 protein in mechanosensing create just such a link, and will be discussed.
Patrick Martone
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Life in the weeds: biomechanics lessons from wave-swept seaweeds
A common feature of intertidal seaweeds is flexibility which reduces the drag on their thalli. The influence of cell wall chemistry and ultrastructure on the material properties of algal tissues and their capacity to resist mechanical stress in the moving aquatic environment will be discussed.
Siobhan Braybrook
UC Los Angeles, USA
Plant biomechanics at subcellular scale
The primary cell wall is responsible for the regulation of growth and form in plants. The nature of the pectin cell wall matrix will be examined in relation to its mechanical properties and its role in growth regulation. Methods for analyzing the elasticity and viscosity of the cell wall on a nanoscale will be presented.
Delphine Jullien
Université Montpellier, France
Growth stresses and their consequences on tree mechanics
During tree growth, mechanical stresses accumulate in the trunk and branches due to the increasing weight and wood maturation. This results in particular stress profiles inside the tree axes. The measurement and modelling of these growth stress profiles will be presented, and their consequences on tree mechanics will be discussed.
