Stochasticity in plant developmental processes

The development of plants impresses us with the well-orchestrated formation of tissues and structures throughout the lifetime of the organism, despite its constituents being inherently stochastic. At first glance the prevalent noise on the molecular level seems hard to reconcile with the robustness and reproducibility of development. How is stochastic variability overcome during development and developmental decision-making? When is stochasticity employed to generate patterns? How can stochastic events drive a process? How do lower level stochastic fluctuations affect development at more global levels?
Stochastic variability is prevalent whenever low molecule numbers and/or small system sizes are involved. Especially during development a few cells are at the foundation of a growing organ, and the stochastic dynamics of regulatory molecules drive spatiotemporal specification of structures to be. Stochasticity is emerging as an important factor in the regulation of diverse plant developmental processes, ranging from molecular clocks and morphogen patterning to growth, cell division, and cell fate specification.
This issue represents a collection of reviews on the role of stochasticity in plant development. Bringing together both experimental and theoretical perspectives to make sense of stochasticity, we hope to facilitate interdisciplinary interactions and advance our nascent understanding of stochasticity in plant developmental processes.