What can plants do for cell biology?
Historically, cell biologists studied organisms that represented a reasonable sampling of life's diversity, whereas recently research has narrowed into a few model systems. As a result, the cells of plants have been relatively neglected. Here I choose three examples to illustrate how plants have been informative and could be even more so. Owing to their ease of imaging and genetic tractability, multicellular plant model systems provide a unique opportunity to address long-standing questions in cell biology.
Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. bezanilla@bio.umass.edu
Magdalena
M
Bezanilla
D003585:Cell Biology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology*; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000502:physiology; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism*; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000502:physiology; D008870:Microtubules / Q000502:physiology*; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D059828:Plant Cells; D010944:Plants