{
  "abstract": "Plant cell wall architecture influences tissue mechanics and transport, but converting microscopy-derived masks into finite-element geometries requires both accurate centerline localization and preservation of network topology. We developed a topology-preserving thinning-based graph skeletonization method (TTGS) that converts binary cell wall masks into vectorizable node-edge graphs through skeleton extraction, node-cluster identification, path tracing, and connectivity-preserving linearization. Seven reconstruction methods were evaluated using the same binary masks from 12 cross-sectional micrographs of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) parenchyma, vascular bundles, and roots. Across all images, TTGS achieved a structure completeness of 44.04 ± 12.98%, a mean geometric deviation of 2.93 ± 1.04 px, a valid skeleton ratio of 94.49 ± 3.71%, and a breakage rate of 0%. Its unmatched internal endpoint count was 5.00 ± 5.38, while its closed-contour F1 and degree-aware junction F1 reached 93.73 ± 5.56% and 92.75 ± 3.54%, respectively. Among the methods satisfying the predefined short-fragment criterion, TTGS achieved the highest structure completeness and valid skeleton ratio and the lowest geometric deviation. A representative TTGS vector network was imported into finite-element software, reconstructed as a three-dimensional cell-scale model, and successfully solved to obtain a continuous stress distribution. These results show that TTGS balances geometric fidelity with topology preservation and supports the workflow from microscopy-derived masks to vector reconstruction and finite-element analysis.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "College of Engineering, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China",
    "Guangdong Province Agricultural Technology Extension Center, Guangzhou, China",
    "College of Information Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Zaibin Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Qingting Liu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Tao Wu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jiaoli Jiang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Yan Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Xueting Han"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Xiaojuan Lin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Qing Zhou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Zhenghe Luo"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5xep2vb3eqa3j.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.plaphe.2026.100294",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13734990/",
  "id": "5xep2vb3eqa3j",
  "issns": [
    "2643-6515"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphe.2026.100294",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Research Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1707|Digital Image Processing Techniques"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221575150",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13734990",
  "pmid": "42990695",
  "published": "2026-10-12",
  "publisher": "Nanjing Agricultural University",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5xep2vb3eqa3j.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-09T12:20:46Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13734990",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphe.2026.100294"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "journal-openalex:1110|Smart Agriculture and AI",
      "subfield": "plant-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "TTGS: A topology-preserving method for vector reconstruction of plant cell wall networks",
  "title_text": "TTGS: A topology-preserving method for vector reconstruction of plant cell wall networks",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T12:20:46Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5xep2vb3eqa3j",
  "venue": "Plant Phenomics",
  "versions": []
}