3D dynamic statistical atlasing of cellular parameters during leaf morphogenesis

The movie shows the dynamic reconstruction of the developmental trajectory of a leaf from a collection of fixed 3D samples at successive developmental stages. Averages of cell volumes measured on individual organs are mapped using false colors. The algorithmic reconstruction was based on the establishment of an organ-centered coordinate system and on the automatic parameterization of individual organ surfaces. Point-to-point correspondences between parameterized organ surfaces allowed the computation of protopypical (average) shapes at successive developmental stages, and their subsequent interpolation. Statistical descriptors of cellular parameters measured from individual organs were projected on the reconstructed trajectory. The obtained statistical representations are representative of the populations of shapes and provide atlases of cellular parameters that will allow to correlate cell growth to the evolution of organ shape during its development.