Methods for a Quantitative Comparison of Gravitropism and Posture Control Over a Wide Range of Herbaceous and Woody Species

Quantitative measurements of plant gravitropic response are challenging. Differences in growth rates between species and environmental conditions make it difficult to compare the intrinsic gravitropic responses of different plants. In addition, the bending movement associated with gravitropism is competing with the tendency of plants to grow straight, through a mechanism called proprioception (ability to sense its own shape). Disentangling these two tendencies is not trivial. Here, we use a combination of modeling, experiment and image analysis to estimate the intrinsic gravitropic and proprioceptive sensitivities of stems, using Arabidopsis as an example.