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The plot thickens: New perspectives of primary cell wall modification.
Jocelyn K C Rose1, Montserrat Saladié, Carmen Catalá
1Department of Plant Biology, 331 Emerson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. jr286@cornell.edu
Current Opinion in Plant Biology
|May 12, 2004
Summary
Plant cell wall restructuring is common during growth, but molecular processes remain poorly understood. New research identifies agents involved in wall disassembly, with coordination challenges still unresolved.
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Cell wall restructuring is essential for plant growth and development.
- Current understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing cell wall modification is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight recent advancements in understanding cell wall restructuring.
- To emphasize the ongoing need for research into the coordination of these processes.
Main Methods:
- Identification of enzymatic and non-enzymatic agents involved in cell wall disassembly.
- Utilizing new biochemical and biophysical assays.
- Database mining of plant genomic and expressed sequence tag information.
- Cataloging the cell wall proteome.
Main Results:
- Several agents contributing to cell wall disassembly have been identified.
- New assays and large-scale data mining are accelerating discoveries.
- The complexity and diversity of cell wall modification processes are increasingly evident.
Conclusions:
- Despite progress, the molecular basis of cell wall restructuring is still rudimentary.
- The coordination of diverse cell wall modification processes remains a significant unresolved question.