WAKs; cell wall associated kinases.
Students of metazoan biology have traditionally viewed the extracellular matrix (ECM) as a substrate with which cells interact to participate in developmental pattern formation and define a specific location. In contrast, the plant cell wall has been viewed as a cage that limits and thus directs plant cell morphology, and perhaps for this reason many have shied away from calling the plant cell wall the ECM. The recent discovery of a variety of receptor molecules and their ligands on the surface of plant cells and the intimate role cell walls play in development should direct our thinking toward a more dynamic view of the plant cell wall. A recent example, is the discovery of wall associated kinases (WAKs), which may well signal between the ECM and the cell and are required for cell expansion.
Kohorn
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BD
Department of Biology, DCMB, B353 LSRC, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. kohorn@duke.edu
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000201:enzymology*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000201:enzymology*; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020449:Repetitive Sequences, Amino Acid
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; C071359:GRP protein, Arabidopsis; D011494:Protein Kinases; C101093:WAK1 protein, Arabidopsis