Growth-rate coordination across the width of a leaf preserves its flatness
9 affiliations
- 1Cornell University
- 2Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology, Cornell University
- 3Norwich Research Park
- 4Université Paris-Saclay
- 5University of Tübingen
- 6Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
- 7Stockholm University
- 8University of Delaware
- 9Ecole Polytechnique, IP Paris
Abstract
The growth and division of cells in plant leaves is highly dynamic in time and space, even though cells cannot move relative to their neighbors. Thus, organ shape must emerge from carefully coordinated growth, especially in leaves that remain relatively flat as they grow. Here we explored the phenotype of the jagged and wavy (jaw-D) mutant in Arabidopsis thaliana, in which the leaves do not remain flat. It has previously been shown that the jaw-D mutant phenotype is caused by the overexpression of miR319, which represses TCP transcription factors, thus delaying maturation of the leaf. We analyzed cell dynamics in wild type and jaw-D by performing time-lapse live imaging of developing leaves. We found that the progression of maturation from the tip of the leaf downward was delayed in jaw-D relative to wild type based on several markers of maturation, in agreement with the role of TCP transcription factors in promoting maturation. We further found that these changes in maturation were accompanied by differences in the coordination of growth across the leaf, particularly across the mediolateral axis, causing growth conflicts that prevent the leaf from remaining flat. Modeling revealed that curvature develops when growth is uneven across the leaf in the direction perpendicular to the direction of growth. Although leaf flatness is often framed as a problem that requires the local synchronization of growth on the abaxial versus adaxial sides (bottom versus top) of the leaf, our results based on the jaw-D phenotype suggest that wild-type plants also need to coordinate growth more globally across the leaf blade to maintain flatness.
The growth of plant leaves is highly dynamic and should be coordinated, but the mechanisms that preserve leaf flatness remain unclear. This study shows that global coordination of growth across the leaf blade is required to maintain flatness in Arabidopsis.
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BibTeX
@article{harline2026growthrate,
title = {{Growth-rate coordination across the width of a leaf preserves its flatness}},
author = {Kate Harline and Brendan Lane and Maura J. Zimmermann and Antoine Fruleux and Gabriella Mosca and Sören Strauss and Nik Tavakolian and James W. Satterlee and Chun‐Biu Li and Abhyudai Singh and Arezki Boudaoud and Richard S. Smith and Adrienne Roeder},
journal = {PLoS Biology},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pbio.3003993},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05760389v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Growth-rate coordination across the width of a leaf preserves its flatness
AU - Kate Harline
AU - Brendan Lane
AU - Maura J. Zimmermann
AU - Antoine Fruleux
AU - Gabriella Mosca
AU - Sören Strauss
AU - Nik Tavakolian
AU - James W. Satterlee
AU - Chun‐Biu Li
AU - Abhyudai Singh
AU - Arezki Boudaoud
AU - Richard S. Smith
AU - Adrienne Roeder
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/08
JO - PLoS Biology
DO - 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003993
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05760389v1
AB - The growth and division of cells in plant leaves is highly dynamic in time and space, even though cells cannot move relative to their neighbors. Thus, organ shape must emerge from carefully coordinated growth, especially in leaves that remain relatively flat as they grow. Here we explored the phenotype of the jagged and wavy (jaw-D) mutant in Arabidopsis thaliana, in which the leaves do not remain flat. It has previously been shown that the jaw-D mutant phenotype is caused by the overexpression of miR319, which represses TCP transcription factors, thus delaying maturation of the leaf. We analyzed cell dynamics in wild type and jaw-D by performing time-lapse live imaging of developing leaves. We found that the progression of maturation from the tip of the leaf downward was delayed in jaw-D relative to wild type based on several markers of maturation, in agreement with the role of TCP transcription factors in promoting maturation. We further found that these changes in maturation were accompanied by differences in the coordination of growth across the leaf, particularly across the mediolateral axis, causing growth conflicts that prevent the leaf from remaining flat. Modeling revealed that curvature develops when growth is uneven across the leaf in the direction perpendicular to the direction of growth. Although leaf flatness is often framed as a problem that requires the local synchronization of growth on the abaxial versus adaxial sides (bottom versus top) of the leaf, our results based on the jaw-D phenotype suggest that wild-type plants also need to coordinate growth more globally across the leaf blade to maintain flatness. The growth of plant leaves is highly dynamic and should be coordinated, but the mechanisms that preserve leaf flatness remain unclear. This study shows that global coordination of growth across the leaf blade is required to maintain flatness in Arabidopsis.
SN - 1544-9173
SN - 1545-7885
ER -