• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

A stem’s ‘sense of self’ contributes to shape

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
March 23, 2017
in Science News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
IMAGE

Credit: L. Mahadevan/Harvard SEAS

It is well known that as plants grow, their stems and shoots respond to outside signals like light and gravity. But if plants all have similar stimuli, why are there so many different plant shapes? Why does a weeping willow grow downwards while nearby poison ivy shoots upwards?

Using simple mathematical ideas, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) constructed a framework that explains and quantifies the different shapes of plant stems.

The research is published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

"We have combined, in one theory, a plant's ability to sense itself and its environment while being constrained by gravity and its elastic nature," said L. Mahadevan, the Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and of Physics. "By accounting for these factors, we can explain the range of shapes seen in nature without the need for complex growth strategies. This in turn implies that the diversity of morphologies seen in your garden may follow from very simple causes."

Mahadevan is also a core faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard.

Mahadevan and coauthor Raghunath Chelakkot describe plant shoots as 'sentient' meaning they can sense their own shape and the direction of gravity and light through mechanochemical pathways.

When these pathways are triggered by stimuli, one part of the shoot may grow relative to another and change shape. The shoots of the weeping willow, for example, try to grow upwards, away from gravity and towards light. But, because they are so soft, the shoots sag under the weight of gravity and cascade towards the ground. On the other hand, poison ivy shoots start by growing downwards before turning upwards.

How organisms sense and respond to these outside signals is important to understanding everything from plant growth to human development.

"Different organs in our body grow and take on their characteristic shapes by responding to both internal and external signals, such as gravity," said Mahadevan. "We do not yet understand how large-scale shape changes arise from a combination of sensing and growth, and our study attempts to look at one example of this."

###

The research was supported in part by the MacArthur Foundation.

Media Contact

Leah Burrows
[email protected]
617-496-1351
@hseas

http://www.seas.harvard.edu/

############

Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag

Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

Gut Microbiota Alterations Determine Susceptibility to AIG-Associated Neuroendocrine Tumors

October 8, 2025

Circular RNAs in Mammalian Follicle Development: Insights

October 8, 2025

Surgical Menopause May Prompt Early Workforce Exit in Women, But Hormone Therapy Shows Promise

October 8, 2025

Birds Flourish Despite Pollution from Persistent ‘Forever’ Chemicals

October 8, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1045 shares
    Share 418 Tweet 261
  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    99 shares
    Share 40 Tweet 25
  • New Study Indicates Children’s Risk of Long COVID Could Double Following a Second Infection – The Lancet Infectious Diseases

    95 shares
    Share 38 Tweet 24
  • Ohio State Study Reveals Protein Quality Control Breakdown as Key Factor in Cancer Immunotherapy Failure

    78 shares
    Share 31 Tweet 20

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Gut Microbiota Alterations Determine Susceptibility to AIG-Associated Neuroendocrine Tumors

Circular RNAs in Mammalian Follicle Development: Insights

Surgical Menopause May Prompt Early Workforce Exit in Women, But Hormone Therapy Shows Promise

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Success! An email was just sent to confirm your subscription. Please find the email now and click 'Confirm' to start subscribing.

Join 63 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.