A novel cell-cell signalling pathway regulating the orientation of cell division in plants

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Plant cells are surrounded by a strong cell wall. One consequence of this feature of plant cell development is that the amazingly diverse range of plant shapes are all generated by different parts of the plant growing at different rates. These different growth rates can only be brought about by increasing the size of the cells, or by altering the direction in which the cells divide. In roots for example, the cells nearly always divide at right angles to the outside of the root and this gives the characteristic long thin shape of most roots. Despite the importance of the direction of cell division in plant development, we know very little about how this process is regulated. How does a plant cell know where it is relative to the outside of the plant? The vascular tissue in plants is the tissue that transports water and solutes around the plant. Vascular cells divide in a very ordered and predictable way and consequently are a good target for studying how the process of cell division is organised. We have identified a mutant in which the ordered cell divisions in the vascular tissue are disturbed. Using this mutant we have identified a gene that is an important part of a pathway that tells plant cells where they are, relative to the rest of the plant, and consequently in which direction they must divide. This gene is likely to be only one component of a pathway that is involved in telling cells where they are relative to one another. During the course of this project other components of this pathway will be identified and how they work together to organise the direction of cell division will be determined. It is important to understand these processes for a variety of reasons. Vascular tissue is important since wood is composed of vascular tissue. How vascular cells divide and the cells that they generate are important for determining the properties of the wood, i.e. how strong it is, whether it will make good paper for a printer. Because of the vast amount of rubbish that we now generate there is increasing pressure to find material that is biodegradable. One way of generating biodegradable material is to use natural fibres from plants to replace man-made fibres in materials such as fibre glass. Understanding how cells divide would help to develop fibres that are better suited to the requirements of the material. It is important to understand these processes for a variety of reasons. Vascular tissue is important since wood is composed of vascular tissue. How vascular cells divide and the cells that they generate are important for determining the properties of the wood, i.e. how strong it is, whether it will make good paper for a printer. Because of the vast amount of rubbish that we now generate there is increasing pressure to find material that is biodegradable. One way of generating biodegradable material is to use natural fibres from plants to replace man-made fibres in materials such as fibre glass. Understanding how cells divide would help to develop fibres that are better suited to the requirements of the material.