The role of plant Rab GTPases in cytokinesis

细胞分裂是生命的基础，但它是如何发生的呢？考虑到细胞分裂对所有活细胞都是共同的，也许令人惊讶的是，动物和植物细胞的分裂方式完全不同。在动物中，细胞被内部的蛋白质环所限制，当细胞膜在中心相遇时，两个子细胞被夹断。但在植物细胞中，它们被坚硬的细胞壁包围，并处于巨大的内部压力下，一个新的细胞壁被放置在一个专门的内部隔室中，即细胞板，它在细胞中心迅速生长。细胞板形成分隔细胞的圆盘，当它与细胞膜融合时，产生2个独立的子细胞。这一切是怎么发生的？该项目的工作旨在确定参与协调这些事件的一些分子，并解释它们是如何工作的。看来，尽管植物和动物的细胞分裂机制不同，但可能涉及一些相同的分子。如果是这样的话，这是一个古老的共同祖先机制的证据，还是一个进化独立达到类似解决方案的案例？该项目涉及使用转基因植物来可视化这些分子在活植物细胞中的行为，并干扰它们的活动以了解它们在细胞分裂中的重要性。这是转基因生物帮助我们理解和欣赏生物体基本过程的一个例子。

Cell division is fundamental to life, but how does it happen? Considering that cell division is common to all living cells, it is perhaps surprising to learn that animal and plant cells divide quite differently. In animals the cell is constricted by an internal ring of protein and when the cell membranes meet in the centre and two daughter cells pinch off. But in plant cells, which are surrounded by a rigid cell wall and are under great internal pressure, a new cell wall is laid down within a specialised internal compartment, the cell plate, that grows rapidly across the centre of the cell. The cell plate forms a disc that partitions the cell and when it fuses with the cell membrane, 2 separate daughter cells are produced. How does all this happen? Work on this project aims to identify some of the molecules that are involved in orchestrating these events and to explain how they work. It seems that despite the differences in mechanics of cell division in plants and animals, some of the same molecules may be involved. If so, is this evidence of an ancient shared ancestral mechanism, or a case of evolution arriving independently at similar solutions? This project involves the use of transgenic plants to visualise the behaviour of these molecules in living plant cells and to perturb their activities to learn about their importance in cell division. It is an example of GMOs helping us to understand and appreciate fundamental processes in living organisms.