Predicting Cell Wall Mechanics from Structure in a Materials Engineering Approach to Plant Growth

Remarkable mechanical engineering sculpts plants into beautiful, complex shapes. Growing cell walls are cellulose-reinforced composite materials that stretch under forces generated by the cell contents. Wall mechanical properties can be adjusted to build elongate cells in a tall stem (walls extend with little circumferential growth), near spherical cells in a swollen fruit (walls expand equally in all directions) and all intermediate shapes. We bring biological, engineering and computer modeling expertise to understand how plants adjust the properties of these sophisticated composites. We aim to illuminate fundamental aspects of plant development and to identify novel, biologically inspired strategies for materials engineering.