Shoot apical meristems (SAMs) give rise to all above-ground tissues of a plant. Expansion of meristematic tissue is derived from the growth and division of stem cells that reside in a central zone of the SAM. This reservoir of stem cells is maintained by expression of a transcription factor WUSCHEL that is responsible for the development of stem cells in the central zone. WUSCHEL expression is self-activating and downregulated by a signaling pathway initiated by CLAVATA proteins, which are upregulated by WUSCHEL. This classic activator–inhibitor network can generate localized patterns of WUSCHEL activity by a Turing instability provided certain constraints on reaction rates and diffusion constants of WUSCHEL and CLAVATA are satisfied, and most existing mathematical models of nucleation and confinement of stem cells in the SAM rely on Turing's mechanism. However, Turing patterns have certain properties that are inconsistent with observed patterns of stem cell differentiation in the SAM. As an alternative mechanism, we propose a model for stem cell confinement based on a bistable-switch in WUSCHEL–CLAVATA interactions. We study the bistable-switch mechanism for pattern formation in a spatially continuous domain and in a discrete cellularized tissue in the presence of a non-uniform field of a rapidly diffusing hormone. By comparing domain formation by Turing and bistable-switch mechanisms in these contexts, we show that bistable switching provides a superior account of nucleation and confinement of the stem cell domain under reasonable assumptions on reaction rates and diffusion constants.
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September 2022
Research Article|
September 14 2022
Nucleation of stem cell domains in a bistable activator–inhibitor model of the shoot apical meristem
Dorjsuren Battogtokh;
Dorjsuren Battogtokh
a)
(Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft)
Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
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John J. Tyson
John J. Tyson
b)
(Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
b)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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a)
Deceased.
b)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Note: This article is part of the Focus Issue, From Chemical Oscillations to Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics: Dedicated to Richard J. Field on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday.
Chaos 32, 093117 (2022)
Article history
Received:
March 30 2022
Accepted:
June 03 2022
Citation
Dorjsuren Battogtokh, John J. Tyson; Nucleation of stem cell domains in a bistable activator–inhibitor model of the shoot apical meristem. Chaos 1 September 2022; 32 (9): 093117. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0093841
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