Jensen K., Forterre Y. Soft Matter in Plants 2022

Textbook in PDF format

Plants offer some of the most elegant applications of soft matter principles in Nature. Understanding the interplay between chemistry, physics, biology, and fluid mechanics is critical to forecast plant behaviour, which is necessary for agriculture and disease management. It also provides inspiration for novel engineering applications.
Starting with fundamental concepts around plant biology, physics of soft matter and viscous fluids, readers of this book will be given a cross-disciplinary and expert grounding to the field. The book covers local scale aspects, such as cell and tissue mechanics, to regional scale matters covering movement, tropism, roots, through to global scale topics around fluid transport. Focussed chapters on water stress, networks, and biomimetics provide the user with a concise and complete introduction.
Basic Soft Matter for Plants
Fluid–Structure Interactions in Plant Vascular Flows
Theoretical Tools and Concepts for Modelling Growing Plant Tissues
Negative Pressure and Cavitation Dynamics in Plant-like Structures
Root–Soil Interaction
Invasive Processes in the Life Cycle of Plants and Fungi
Hygroresponsive Movements of Plants and Soft Actuators