Cell wall mechanics and growth control in plants: the role of pectins revisited
How is the extensibility of growing plant cell walls regulated ? In the past, most studies have focused on the role of the cellulose/xyloglucan network and the enigmatic wall-loosening agents expansins. Here we review first how in the closest relatives of the land plants, the Charophycean algae, cel...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2012-06-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpls.2012.00121/full |
| Summary: | How is the extensibility of growing plant cell walls regulated ? In the past, most studies have focused on the role of the cellulose/xyloglucan network and the enigmatic wall-loosening agents expansins. Here we review first how in the closest relatives of the land plants, the Charophycean algae, cell wall synthesis is coupled to cell wall extensibility by a chemical Ca2+-exchange mechanism between Ca2+-pectate complexes. We next discuss evidence for the existence in terrestrial plants of a similar primitive Ca2+-pectate-based growth control mechanism in parallel to the more recent, land plant-specific, expansin-dependent process. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1664-462X |