title: The cytosol must flow: intercellular transport through plasmodesmata.
abstract: Plant cells are connected across cell walls by nanoscopic channels called plasmodesmata (PD), which allow plant cells to share resources and exchange signaling molecules. Several protein components of PD membranes have been identified, and recent advances in superresolution live-cell microscopy are illuminating PD ultrastructure. Restricting transport through PD is crucial for morphogenesis, since hormones and hundreds of transcription factors regularly move through PD, and this transport must stop to allow cells to begin differentiating. Chloroplasts and mitochondria regulate PD function through signal transduction networks that coordinate plant physiology and development. Recent discoveries on the relationships of land plants and their algal relatives suggest that PD have evolved independently in several lineages, emphasizing the importance of cytosolic bridges in multicellular biology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Jacob O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Brunkard
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Anne M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Runkel
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Electronic address: zambrysk@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Patricia C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Zambryski
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D002450:Cell Communication; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism*; D059828:Plant Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D031425:Plasmodesmata / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins