In the Arabidopsis root, growth is sustained by the meristem. Signalling from organiser cells, also termed the quiescent centre (QC), is essential for the maintenance and replenishment of the stem cells. Here, we highlight three publications from the founder of the concept of the stem cell niche in Arabidopsis and a pioneer in unravelling regulatory modules governing stem cell specification and maintenance, as well as tissue patterning in the root meristem: Ben Scheres. His research has tremendously impacted the plant field. We have selected three publications from the Scheres legacy, which can be considered a breakthrough in the field of plant developmental biology. van den Berg et al. (1995) and van den Berg et al. (1997) uncovered that positional information-directed patterning. Sabatini et al. (1999), discovered that auxin maxima determine tissue patterning and polarity. We describe how simple but elegant experimental designs have provided the foundation of our current understanding of the functioning of the root meristem.

Deformable cell model is developed to study pattern formation and to simulate planttissue growth. Each cell represents a polygon with a number of vertices connected bysprings. Some cells in the tissue can grow and divide, other cells are differentiated anddo not grow or divide but remain deformable. The model is used to investigate formation ofself-similar structures which reproduce the same cell organization during their growth. Innumerical experiments we observed that self-similar solutions can exist for a ratherprecise choice of plant structure and mechanical properties of cell walls. We test themodel for simulation of apical meristems functioning which represent self-similar cellstructures in plants. At the next stage of modelling, auxin distribution is introduced bymeans of diffusion and polar transport mechanisms. The existence of steady auxindistribution in a growing root is investigated. Single as well as multiple auxin maximahave been observed in model solutions.