Is cell polarity under mechanical control in plants?

Plant cells experience a tremendous amount of mechanical stress caused by turgor pressure. Because cells are glued to their neighbors by the middle lamella, supracellular patterns of physical forces are emerging during growth, usually leading to tension in the epidermis. Cortical microtubules have been shown to reorient in response to these mechanical stresses, and to resist them, indirectly via their impact on the anisotropic structure of the cell wall. In a recent study, we show that the polar localization of the auxin efflux carrier PIN1 can also be under the control of physical forces, thus linking cell growth rate and anisotropy by a common mechanical signal. Because of the known impact of auxin on the stiffness of the cell wall, this suggests that the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix play a crucial signaling role in morphogenesis, notably controlling the polarity of the cell, as observed in animal systems.