Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41123999›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2025

Optimal disk packing of chloroplasts in plant cells.

Nico Schramma, Eric R Weeks, Maziyar Jalaal

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Optimal disk packing of chloroplasts in plant cells.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Nico SchrammaVan der Waals-Zeeman Institute, Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1098XH, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-3887-3416
Eric R WeeksDepartment of Physics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322.ORCID 0000-0003-1503-3633
Maziyar JalaalVan der Waals-Zeeman Institute, Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1098XH, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-5654-8505

Funding

EC | European Research Council (ERC) 2023-StG-101117025 FluMABNational Science Foundation (NSF) CBET-2306371NWO | AES | Stichting voor de Technische Wetenschappen (STW) Living Levers-21239
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Photosynthesis is essential for ecosystem survival, but while plants require light, excessive exposure can damage cells. Chloroplasts, photosynthetic organelles, respond via self-organized motion within cells to optimize light absorption. These disk-shaped organelles must balance two competing needs: dense packing to enhance absorption under dim light and rapid spatial rearrangement to avoid damage from excess light. Using microscopy, we show that plant cell shape and chloroplast size achieve both goals: dense monolayer packing for optimal absorption in low light and sidewall packing for light avoidance. We present a theoretical model using random close packing simulations of polydispersed hard disks in rectangular boxes and find optimal cell shapes that match plant cell measurements. Our findings highlight how particle packing principles under confinement enable light adaptation in plants, offering insights into organelle organization under confinement, a physical challenge relevant across biological systems.

Indexed as

ChloroplastsPlant CellsLightModels, BiologicalPhotosynthesiscell structurechloroplast photoadaptationjammingpackingplant physics

Identifiers

PMID41123999
PMCPMC12582306

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.