A quantitative model for spatio-temporal dynamics of root gravitropism

Abstract

Plant organs adapt their morphology according to environmental signals through growth-driven processes called tropisms. While much effort has been directed in the development of mathematical models describing the tropic dynamics of aerial organs, these cannot provide a good description of roots due to intrinsic physiological differences. Here we present a mathematical model informed by gravitropic experiments on Arabidopsis thaliana roots, assuming a sub-apical growth profile and apical sensing. The model quantitatively recovers the full spatio-temporal dynamics observed in experiments. An analytical solution of the model enables us to evaluate the gravitropic and proprioceptive sensitivities of roots, while also allowing us to corroborate the requirement of proprioception in describing root dynamics. Lastly, we find that the dynamics are analogous to a damped harmonic oscillator, providing intuition regarding the source of the observed oscillatory behavior. In all, the model not only provides a quantitative description of root tropic dynamics, but also provides a mathematical framework for the future investigation of roots in complex media.