Repetitive hygroscopic snapping movements in awns of wild oats.

Wild oat (Avena sterilis) is a very common annual plant species. Successful seed dispersion support its wide distribution in Africa, Asia and Europe. The seed dispersal units are made of two elongated stiff awns that are attached to a pointy compartment containing two seeds. The awns bend and twist with changes in humidity, pushing the seeds along and into the soil. The present work reveals the material structure of the awns, and models their functionality as two-link robotic arms. Based on nano-to-micro structure analyses the bending and twisting hygroscopic movements are explained. The coordinated movements of two sister awns attached to one dispersal unit were followed. Our work shows that sister awns intersect typically twice every wetting-drying cycle. Once the awns cross each other, epidermal silica hairs are suggested to lock subsequent movements, resulting in stress accumulation. Sudden release of the interlocked awns induces jumps of the dispersal unit and changes in its movement direction. Our findings propose a new role to epidermis silica hairs and a new facet of wild oat seed dispersion. Reversible jumping mechanism in multiple-awn seed dispersal units may serve as a blueprint for reversibly jumping robotic systems. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The seed dispersal unit of wild oats carries two elongated stiff awns covered by unidirectional silica hairs. The awns bend and twist with changes in humidity, pushing the seed capsule along and into the ground. We studied structures constructing the movement mechanism and modeled the awn as a two-link robotic arm. We show that sister awns, attached to the same seed capsule, intersect twice every drying cycle. Once the awns cross each other, the epidermal silica hairs are suggested to lock any subsequent movements, causing stress accumulation. Sudden release of the interlocked awns may cause the dispersal unit to jump and change its direction. Our findings suggest a new role to silica hairs and a new dispersal mechanism in multiple-awn seed dispersal units.

FTIR Nanospectroscopy Shows Molecular Structures of Plant Biominerals and Cell Walls.

Plant tissues are complex composite structures of organic and inorganic components whose function relies on molecular heterogeneity at the nanometer scale. Scattering-type near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) in the mid-infrared (IR) region is used here to collect IR nanospectra from both fixed and native plant samples. We compared structures of chemically extracted silica bodies (phytoliths) to silicified and nonsilicified cell walls prepared as a flat block of epoxy-embedded awns of wheat (Triticum turgidum), thin sections of native epidermis cells from sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) comprising silica phytoliths, and isolated cells from awns of oats (Avena sterilis). The correlation of the scanning-probe IR images and the mechanical phase image enables a combined probing of mechanical material properties together with the chemical composition and structure of both the cell walls and the phytolith structures. The data reveal a structural heterogeneity of the different silica bodies in situ, as well as different compositions and crystallinities of cell wall components. In conclusion, IR nanospectroscopy is suggested as an ideal tool for studies of native plant materials of varied origins and preparations and could be applied to other inorganic-organic hybrid materials.

Dehydration Induces Cracking in Root Dentin Irrespective of Instrumentation: A Two-dimensional and Three-dimensional Study.

INTRODUCTION: Water loss strongly affects the mechanical behavior of dentin. Micro-computed tomography (µCT) studies exploring the influence of endodontic procedures on root cracking often lack information on the hydration state of the scanned samples. This study explores the relationship between dehydration and crack formation in root dentin with and without endodontic instrumentation. METHODS: Fifty-three extracted teeth were used. Thirty canals were not instrumented, and 23 canals were instrumented with ProTaper files until F3. All teeth were imaged with visible light or x-rays, both moist (100% relative humidity) and after dehydration, thus allowing every tooth to serve as its own control. The presence of cracks was determined both before and after dehydration by microscopy on two-dimensional (2D) slices and in by µCT in three dimensions (3D). The µCT data were used to determine the total surface area of newly formed cracks after dehydration, which was correlated with dentin cross section. RESULTS: Both 2D and 3D data revealed cracking with increasing dehydration. Drying led to damage in >50% of roots, with a significant number of cracks appearing within 24 hours of ambient air-drying at 35%-55% relative humidity. Some cracking was occasionally observed even within minutes. More cracks were identified in 3D by µCT as compared with 2D microscopy. A correlation was found between dentin cross section and the total newly formed crack areas. CONCLUSIONS: Dehydration may induce cracks in dentin regardless of canal instrumentation. The in vitro observed correlation between root dentin mass and newly formed cracks implies that dehydration engenders stresses that may significantly damage roots.

Importance of the variable periodontal ligament geometry for whole tooth mechanical function: A validated numerical study.

When mammalian teeth breakdown food, several juxtaposed dental tissues work mechanically together, while balancing requirements of food comminution and avoiding damage to the oral tissues. One important way to achieve this is by channeling mastication forces into the surrounding jaw bone through a thin and compliant soft tissue, the periodontal ligament (PDL). As a result, during a typical chewing stroke, each tooth moves quite substantially in its anchor-site. Here we report a series of experiments, where we study the reaction of three-rooted teeth to a single chewing event by finite element (FE) modelling. The nonlinear behaviour of the PDL is simulated by a hyperelastic material model and the in silico results are validated by our own in vitro experiments. We examine the displacement response of the complete tooth-PDL-bone complex to increasing chewing loads. We observe that small spatially-varying geometric adjustments to the thickness of the PDL lead to strong changes in observed tooth reaction movement, as well as PDL strain and bone stress. When reproducing the regionally varying thickness of the PDL observed in vivo, FE simulations reveal subtle but significant tooth motion that leads to an even distribution of the stresses in the jaw bone, and to lower strains in the PDL. Our in silico experiments also reproduce the results of experiments performed by others on different animal models and are therefore useful for overcoming the difficulties of obtaining tooth-PDL-bone loading estimates in vivo. This data thus enhances our understanding of the role the variable PDL geometry plays in the tooth-PDL-bone complex during mastication.

Light-Induced Rearrangement of the ß5 Strand in the BLUF Photoreceptor SyPixD (Slr1694).

The structural changes that facilitate signal transduction in blue light sensors using FAD (BLUF) photoreceptors and confer the stability of the rearranged hydrogen bond network between flavin and protein in the signaling state are still poorly understood. Here, we investigate a semiconserved Trp residue in SyPixD (Slr1694) by isotope-edited vibrational spectroscopy and site-directed mutagenesis. In the signaling state, a ß-sheet structure involving the backbone of W91 is formed without apparent change of environment of the W91 indole side chain. Mutation of W91, however, significantly influences the stability of the light-adapted state, suggesting that backbone rigidity rather than discrete side-chain conformations govern the stability of the light-adapted state. On the basis of computational and crystallographic models, we interpret these changes as a +1 register shift of the ß2/ß5 interaction with an unaffected indole side-chain conformation, rather than a +2 register shift accompanied by an indole side-chain flip that was previously proposed on the basis of X-ray structures.