Agent-Based Simulation of Cortical Microtubule Band Movement in the Arabidopsis Zygote

Arabidopsis thaliana zygotes form a circumferential cortical microtubule (CMT) band that stays at a constant position from the growing tip. CMT bands support zygote anisotropic growth that is essential to determine the apical-basal axis of the plant body, but how stable CMT bands are maintained remains unclear. We hypothesized that cell surface tension induces CMT reorientation of which the strength was defined as the directional cue (DC). We constructed an agent-based simulation model using the DC and its spatial distribution (DC zone) to determine the range of molecular parameters and the width and movement speed of the DC zone required to form the CMT band. We then developed a data–model correspondence method to determine the range of the parameters which are difficult to observe experimentally. We determined that the DC zone must move with an appropriate speed of mechanical change may exist to form a moving CMT band.