It is of great significance to study the water absorption and expansion of cells, which are essential for the growth and life regulation of plants, not only for understanding the complex life phenomena of plants, but also for the manufacture of biomimetic materials. The main purpose of this study is to shed light on the mechanism of a novel coiling phenomenon of the split dandelion scape soaked in water and the high concentration mannitol solution. We discovered that the difference between water absorption/dehydration capacities of inner cells and lateral cells of the split dandelion scape generates asymmetric expansion/contraction between inner and lateral layers, resulting two opposite coiled patterns. Analogous to the deformable hypothesis of the thermal expansion model, the water absorption-induced cell expansion model was proposed to explain the coiling process of the split dandelion scape. Both the simulation and experimental results revealed that the coiling of dandelion scape is strongly depended on the response of cells to the stimulation of the solution environment. Showing considerable potential load bearing capacity of plants, the coiling phenomenon can be an inspiration to the designs of soft robots and bionic sensors for humidity control.

研究细胞的吸水和膨胀对植物的生长和生命调节至关重要，不仅对于理解植物的复杂生命现象，而且对于仿生材料的制造都具有重要意义。这项研究的主要目的是阐明在水中和高浓度甘露醇溶液中浸泡的分裂蒲公英花的一种新型卷曲现象的机理。我们发现，分裂的蒲公英花的内部细胞和侧细胞的吸水/脱水能力之间的差异会在内层和侧层之间产生不对称的膨胀/收缩，从而产生两个相反的盘绕模式。类似于热膨胀模型的可变形假设，提出了吸水诱导的细胞膨胀模型，以解释分裂的蒲公英花序的卷曲过程。仿真和实验结果均表明，蒲公英花scape的卷曲在很大程度上取决于细胞对溶液环境刺激的响应。盘绕现象表明植物具有相当大的潜在承重能力，这可能会启发设计用于湿度控制的软机器人和仿生传感器。