A specifically patterned cell wall is a determinant of plant cell shape. However, the precise mechanism underlying the cell wall patterning is still elusive. The main purpose of our study is to reveal how plant cells establish proper cell wall patterns. We focus on xylem vessel cells that deposit secondary cell walls in various patterns and cell division during which de novo cell walls assemble at cell plates. By using our cell culture system and pattern reconstruction assays, we are investigating the behavior of cortical cytoskeletons and Rho GTPase signaling that determine the deposition patterns of cell walls.
(A) Xylem vessels develop various secondary cell wall patterns. (B) Xylogenic Arabidopsis cultured cells. Red signals indicate secondary cell walls. (C) Cortical microtubules in the differentiating xylem cell. (D) Secondary cell walls (yellow) and plasma membrane domains (green). (E) Reconstruction of cell wall patterns. Plasma membrane domains (magenta) associate with microtubules (green).
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Sugiyama Y, Nagashima Y, Wakazaki M, Sato M, Toyooka K, Fukuda H, Oda Y. A Rho-actin signaling pathway shapes cell wall boundaries in Arabidopsis xylem vessels. Nat Commun. 2019 Jan 28;10(1):468.
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