Hernandez-Lagana E. auteur aut IRD Mosca G. auteur aut IRD Mendocilla-Sato E. auteur aut IRD Pires N. auteur aut IRD Frey A. auteur aut IRD Giraldo-Fonseca A. auteur aut IRD Michaud Caroline auteur aut IRD Grossniklaus U. auteur aut IRD Hamant O. auteur aut IRD Godin C. auteur aut IRD Boudaoud A. auteur aut IRD Grimanelli Daniel auteur aut IRD Autran Daphné auteur aut IRD Baroux C. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access In multicellular organisms, sexual reproduction requires the separation of the germline from the soma. In flowering plants, the female germline precursor differentiates as a single spore mother cell (SMC) as the ovule primordium forms. Here, we explored how organ growth contributes to SMC differentiation. We generated 92 annotated 3D images at cellular resolution in Arabidopsis. We identified the spatio-temporal pattern of cell division that acts in a domain-specific manner as the primordium forms. Tissue growth models uncovered plausible morphogenetic principles involving a spatially confined growth signal, differential mechanical properties, and cell growth anisotropy. Our analysis revealed that SMC characteristics first arise in more than one cell but SMC fate becomes progressively restricted to a single cell during organ growth. Altered primordium geometry coincided with a delay in the fate restriction process in katanin mutants. Altogether, our study suggests that tissue geometry channels reproductive cell fate in the Arabidopsis ovule primordium. specialized 076 10 e66031 [46 p.] 2021 2050-084X https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010082172 10.7554/eLife.66031 2050-084X [F B010082172] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010082172 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2021-08/010082172.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2021-08-31 2025-02-24 fdi:010082172 fre