The physical, social and genetic priorities of plant mitochondria: Linking mitochondrial dynamics with mtDNA exchange

Mitochondria in plant cells exhibit highly dynamic collective behaviours, forming a ‘discontinuous whole’ of individuals. The guiding principles and underlying mechanisms of this behaviour are just beginning to be uncovered.
Using an interdisciplinary approach combining experimental characterisation, image analysis, network science and modelling, we quantify connectivity across the population.
I will discuss my work showing evidence for a universal trade-off between physical priorities of mitochondria (maintaining cellular spread, even spacing) and “social” priorities (colocalising facilitating interaction, fusion, and DNA/metabolite exchange). My current work investigates links between physical and genetic dynamics, quantifying mtDNA, and probing inter-mitochondrial exchange events within single cells.