Building a new approach to integrate the functioning of apical meristems in the dynamic modelling of plant aerial architecture

Background and challenges

The use of a greater diversity of plant species to optimise natural resources has highlighted the need for a better understanding of the dynamics of plant stands.  Competition for light between individuals is a key phenomenon in these dynamics. This is why the simulation of aerial architecture is essential. This is essentially determined by the functioning of the apical meristems of the different axes of the plant, which includes the production of apexes (branching), the production of leaves and the elongation of the axes, up to the formation of fruits and their positioning in the stand.

Recent work by INRAE and INRIA on this topic has been the subject of high-impact publications. However, a better understanding of the determinants of aerial morphogenesis in response to the environment requires a new and multidisciplinary approach, in order to take into account different levels of scale, from the gene to the stand.

Goals

In order to achieve such syntheses, which allow science to move from the subcellular or cellular scales to those of the organ and the plant in the stand, it is essential to build a space for sharing and exchanging information between scientific communities from different disciplines, thanks to effective communication tools.

With a view to bringing these different communities together, the consortium calls for:

• The organisation of an international seminar (28-30 November 2022 in Poitiers);
• The joint writing of a multi-scale synthesis journal;
• The construction of a sustainable animation network, in order to accelerate the production of models integrating the different scales.

Contacts/coordination :

Partnerships

INRAE participants

Partners