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Cells Coordinate Growth and Proliferation

Cells Coordinate Growth and Proliferation

Cell size is a significant factor impacting cellular design, function, and fitness. There exists some internal coordination by which cells double their masses before division, thus, achieving homeostasis. Coordination between cell growth and proliferation depends on the checkpoints in between cell cycle phases. Loss of coordination or failure in the checkpoint mechanism can drive the cell to uncontrolled growth and loss of cellular function. Like dividing cells that coordinate cellular growth,...

Water and Mineral Acquisition

Water and Mineral Acquisition

Specialized tissues in plant roots have evolved to capture water, minerals, and some ions from the soil. Roots exhibit a variety of branching patterns that facilitate this process. The outermost root cells have specialized structures called root hairs that increase the root surface, thus increasing soil contact. Water can passively cross into roots, as the concentration of water in the soil is higher than that of the root tissue. Minerals, in contrast, are actively transported into root cells.

Cell Size

Cell Size

Cell sizes vary widely among and within organisms. Bacterial cells range between 1-10 micrometers (μm)and are considerably smaller than most eukaryotic cells. The smallest bacteria are 0.1 μm in diameter—about a thousand times smaller than eukaryotic cells, which typically range from 10-100 μm.
Surface Area
Cells can take in nutrients and water via diffusion through the plasma membrane itself or through specific channels in the membrane. The area of the membrane surrounding...

Primary and Secondary Growth in Roots and Shoots

Primary and Secondary Growth in Roots and Shoots

Vascular plants, which account for over 90% of the Earth’s vegetation, all undergo primary growth—which lengthens roots and shoots. Many land plants, notably woody plants, also undergo secondary growth—which thickens roots and shoots.

Morphogenesis

Morphogenesis

Plant morphogenesis—the development of a plant’s form and structure—involves several overlapping developmental processes, including growth and cell differentiation. Precursor cells differentiate into specific cell types, which are organized into the tissues and organ systems that make up the functional plant.

Regulation of Metabolism

Regulation of Metabolism

Cellular needs and conditions vary from cell to cell and change within individual cells over time. For example, the required enzymes and energetic demands of stomach cells are different from those of fat storage cells, skin cells, blood cells, and nerve cells. Furthermore, a digestive cell works much harder to process and break down nutrients during the time that closely follows a meal compared with many hours after a meal. As these cellular demands and conditions vary, so do the amounts and...

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High Resolution Quantification of Crystalline Cellulose Accumulation in Arabidopsis Roots to Monitor Tissue-specific Cell Wall Modifications

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Published on: May 10, 2016

Cortical cell size regulates root metabolic cost.

Jagdeep Singh Sidhu¹, Jonathan P Lynch¹

¹Department of Plant Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA.

The Plant Journal : for Cell and Molecular Biology

|February 10, 2024

Summary

Larger root cells with greater vacuole volume reduce metabolic cost, improving crop resilience to drought and poor soil conditions. This finding offers a new target for crop improvement strategies.

Keywords:

Rhizoeconomics cell size in silico biology metabolic efficiency root anatomy root metabolic cost

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Area of Science:

Plant Biology
Crop Science
Genetics

Background:

Root metabolic cost influences plant fitness, particularly under environmental stress.
Vacuolar occupancy in root cortical parenchyma cells was hypothesized to regulate metabolic cost but lacked mechanistic proof.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide evidence for the hypothesis that vacuolar occupancy regulates root metabolic cost.
To investigate the genetic control and phenotypic variation of root cortical cell size.
To determine the relationship between root cell size, vacuolar volume, and metabolic indicators.

Main Methods:

Genotypic variation analysis of root cortical cell diameter and length in maize and wheat.
Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) analyses.
Phenotypic analysis using isogenic lines, a functional-structural root model (RootSlice), and ultrastructural imaging.

Main Results:

Significant heritable variation in root cortical cell diameter and length was identified, controlled by independent genetic factors.
Increased root cell size (diameter or length) correlated with reduced root respiration, nitrogen, and phosphorus content.
In silico modeling and ultrastructural imaging confirmed that larger cell size increases vacuolar volume, reducing cytoplasmic volume and metabolic cost.

Conclusions:

Vacuolar occupancy, linked to root cortical cell size, mechanistically reduces root metabolic cost.
Root cortical cell size is a heritable trait with potential as a phene for enhancing crop adaptation to edaphic stresses.
Further investigation into vacuolar occupancy as a target for crop improvement is warranted.