Real-time conversion of tissue-scale mechanical forces into an interdigitated growth pattern.

The leaf epidermis is a dynamic biomechanical shell that integrates growth across spatial scales to influence organ morphology. Pavement cells, the fundamental unit of this tissue, morph irreversibly into highly lobed cells that drive planar leaf expansion. Here, we define how tissue-scale cell wall tensile forces and the microtubule-cellulose synthase systems dictate the patterns of interdigitated growth in real time.