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Plasmodesmata

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Introduction

Intercellular communication in multicellular organisms is critical for proper development, metabolism, and environmental responses. This occurs in part via secreted signals and receptors in recipient cells, but both animals and plants also directly transfer molecules cell to cell, to coordinate cellular activity across diverse cell types. This kind of communication is especially important in plants, where development continues over the life span. Many plant developmental genes have been found to act non-cell autonomously. The developmental regulators (proteins and/or ribonucleic acids (RNAs)) encoded by a number of these genes are transported between cells through the microscopic channels called plasmodesmata (PDs, plural, singular = plasmodesma) (Xu and Jackson 2010; Burch-Smith and Zambryski 2012). PDs also facilitate systemic movement of protein and RNA molecules by providing access to the phloem vascular system. The PD pathway is hijacked by plant viruses to spread...

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Further Reading

  • Kragler F, and Hulskamp M (eds.) Short and Long Distance signaling. Advances in plant biology, vol. 3. New York: Springer; 2012.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, One Bungtown Road, P.O. Box 100, 11724, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA

    Huyen T. Bui, Rachappa Balkunde & David Jackson

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  1. Huyen T. Bui
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  2. Rachappa Balkunde
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Sarah Assmann

  2. University of California Sect. Plant Biology, Davis, California, USA

    Bo Liu

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Bui, H.T., Balkunde, R., Jackson, D. (2014). Plasmodesmata. In: Assmann, S., Liu, B. (eds) Cell Biology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7881-2_7-1

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