Companion cells: a diamond in the rough.
Vascular plants have developed highly specialized cells to transport nutrients and developmental signals. The differentiation process includes the degradation of multiple organelles of the sieve element cells (SEs) to facilitate transport and, as a consequence, SEs become dependent on neighboring companion cells (CCs). Despite its importance for phloem function and flowering time control, CCs are still a mysterious cell type. In this review, we gather all the genes known to be expressed in CCs, in different organs and organisms, with the objective of better understanding CC identity and function.
Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Bateman Street, Cambridge CB2 1LR, UK.
Sofia
0000-0001-9409-8544
S
Otero
Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Bateman Street, Cambridge CB2 1LR, UK yrjo.helariutta@slcu.cam.ac.uk.|Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 65, Helsinki FIN-00014, Finland.
Ykä
0000-0002-7287-8459
Y
Helariutta
D001692:Biological Transport / Q000502:physiology; D052585:Phloem / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D059467:Transcriptome
D010940:Plant Proteins
Companion cells; FT; development; flowering; phloem; sieve element; transcriptome.