A Theoretical Model of Jigsaw-Puzzle Pattern Formation by Plant Leaf Epidermal Cells
Fig 6
A three-way junction became a forced cytoplasmic protrusion and may affect downstream molecular pathways.
(a) Maximum intensity projection of GFP-tubulin in cotyledon leaf epidermal cells. White arrows and red arrowheads indicate pavement interdigitation and a three-way junction, respectively. Scale bar = 10 μm. (b, c) A representative circle with a radius of 5 μm centered at an interdigitation point (b) and a three-way junction point. (c) Red points indicate GFP-tubulin intensity peaks detected as anticlinal cortical microtubules. (d) Density of anticlinal cortical microtubules in interdigitation and three-way junction areas. Data are mean values from 134 and 161 independent regions, respectively. A statistically significant difference is observed using the Mann–Whitney U-test (p = 4.366e−8). (e) Relative strength of ROP2 (cyan) and ROP6 (magenta) activities in a numerical simulation. The three-way junction region functioned as a forced cytoplasmic protrusion at which the ROP2 pathway was expected to be dominant. ROP2 activity was monitored by the distribution of cortical microtubules.