Tag: Cell Biology

Orientation of cell division decides daughter cell fate and is fundamentally important for tissue patterning and morphology. For instance, asymmetric cell division leads to the generation of new cell types; in contrast, symmetric division produces cells with similar identity in a proliferative manner.…

Ample evidence shows that rather than being homogenous, plasma membrane lipids and proteins form distinct nanodomains. Jallais and Ott review plant plasma membrane nanodomains, and their important contributions to receptor-mediated signaling. The authors discuss methods for the study of membrane nanodomains,…

As their name suggests, phosphoinositide (PI) phosphatases remove phosphates from phosphoinositides (try saying that fast!). Because the phosphorylation status of a membrane-bound PI determines which proteins it interacts with, PI phosphatases and kinases contribute to membrane functions and dynamics.…

Phosphoinositides (PIs) are specialized membrane lipids that contribute to membrane nanodomains, which affect protein localizations and vesicle trafficking. Previous studies have implicated PIs in the polar localization of auxin-transporter PIN proteins, and, in roots, the PIN-regulators PAX and BRX.…

In the middle part of the 20th century, cell biology leapt forward with the development of differential centrifugation methods for purifying subcellular compartments. However, these methods require large amounts of starting material and can suffer from contamination. Kuhnert et al. present a new simple…

The ability of seeds to pack nutrients into dense stable capsules transformed plants’ and animals’ ability to thrive on land (imagine getting through your day without eating any foods derived from seeds or animals that eat seeds). Within many seeds, nutrients are packaged in lipid droplets, with…

A new review by Petit et al. skillfully highlights the role of plasmodesmata at the interface between cell biology and whole-plant physiology. These tiny channels that connect plant cells determine what moves from cell-to-cell symplastically, so have roles in just about everything, from developmental…

Plasmodesmata are tiny regulated channels that connect adjacent plant cells through which nutrients, signaling molecules and viruses can move. To try to resolve discrepancies between functional and structural studies, Deinum et al. have developed a model for plasmodesmatal permeability that predicts…