Active Glassy behaviour in Plant Cells

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• Mazi Jalaal (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
• Friday 08 September 2023, 12:00-12:30
• Seminar Room 1, Newton Institute.

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SPLW02 - Active mechanics, from single cells to cell layers, tissues and development

Photosynthesis is essential for all life on earth. Plants have evolved multiple mechanisms to adapt their photosynthetic performance to ever-changing light conditions: from the active motion of their leaves during the day to directed growth towards light. However, such adaptation could also occur on a cellular scale, via the motion of chlorophyll-containing organelles – chloroplasts. A plant-specific light-controlled actin-binding mechanism enables chloroplasts to individually move towards or away from light, depending on the light intensity. This mechanism enables chloroplasts to collectively self-organize into different light-adapted configurations.  Here, we study the collective re-arrangements of chloroplasts in the water plant Elodea densa. We uncover a state close to a glass transition when chloroplasts arrange into a single layer within the plant cell to increase the light uptake. We show that the vicinity to a glass transition allows chloroplasts to easily fluidize the configuration and re-arrange into an aggregate as a light-avoidance response under strong light exposure. The high degree of self-organization in this system of disk-like light-responsive organelles renders the motion of chloroplasts an in-vivo model system for active matter in confinement at high densities while showcasing an interesting role of organelle motion in cells.

This talk is part of the Isaac Newton Institute Seminar Series series.

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