Mesoscopic models of plant development

植物发育的细观模型

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-05325
• 负责人: Prusinkiewicz, Przemyslaw
• 金额: $ 6.7万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=567095
• 关键词: Mesoscopic; models; plant; development

A central question of developmental biology is how organisms acquire their form. Computational models play an important role in addressing this question. Their relevance is due, in part, to the self-organizing character of many developmental processes, which is difficult to analyze and understand without the use of models. Models of plant development constructed to date can be broadly divided into two classes. Microscopic models aim at explaining the spatio-temporal patterns of morphogenetically active substances that control growth. These models operate at the scale of molecular processes taking place in individual cells. Macroscopic models relate local growth to the global form of entire plants and operate at the level of large plant components. Examples include the elements of the branching system (apices and internodes) and organs such as leaves, flowers, and fruits. In principle, microscopic and macroscopic models are complementary, but their correspondence has been tenuous, creating a gap in the understanding of development. Addressing this gap, I propose to devise a conceptual and mathematical framework, modeling methods, and software for modeling plant development at the intermediate, mesoscopic level. This level is characterized by spatial scales larger than individual cells but smaller than whole plants, highly non-uniform growth resulting in radical changes in size and shape, feedback between patterning and growth, and the emergence of new structural elements, including differentiation of vasculature, through self-organizing patterning. I propose to harness the complexity of mesoscopic development using a two-prong approach, where the essential patterning properties of molecular and cell-level processes are distilled into geometric constitutive rules, and the development of large-scale patterns, forms and structures is characterized in terms of these rules. Theoretical notions and computational methods will draw on ideas from computer science, mathematics and physics, and will be applied to biological problems rooted in experimental data. Case studies will include the development of compound leaves, flowers and inflorescences. The results are expected to contribute a unifying perspective to developmental plant biology, and advance methods for realistic modelling of plants in computer graphics.

发育生物学的一个中心问题是生物体如何获得它们的形式。计算模型在解决这一问题方面发挥着重要作用。它们的相关性部分是由于许多发展过程的自组织特征，如果不使用模型，就很难分析和理解。迄今为止构建的植物发育模型可以大致分为两类。微观模型旨在解释控制生长的形态发生活性物质的时空模式。这些模型在单个细胞中发生的分子过程的尺度上运行。宏观模型将局部生长与整个植物的全球形式联系起来，并在大型植物组成部分的水平上运作。例子包括分支系统的元素（顶端和节间）和器官，如叶，花和果实。原则上，微观和宏观模型是互补的，但它们之间的对应关系一直很脆弱，在对发展的理解上造成了差距。针对这一差距，我建议设计一个概念和数学框架，建模方法，和软件建模植物发展的中间，中观层次。这一水平的特征是空间尺度大于单个细胞但小于整个植物，高度不均匀的生长导致大小和形状的根本变化，图案和生长之间的反馈，以及新的结构元素的出现，包括脉管系统的分化，通过自组织图案。我建议利用的复杂性，介观的发展，使用双管齐下的方法，在分子和细胞水平的过程中的基本图案化属性被蒸馏成几何本构规则，和发展的大规模的图案，形式和结构的特点是在这些规则。理论概念和计算方法将借鉴计算机科学，数学和物理学的思想，并将应用于植根于实验数据的生物学问题。个案研究将包括复叶、花和花序的发育。这些结果有望为植物发育生物学提供统一的视角，并推动计算机图形学中植物逼真建模的方法。