Discovery may help shape plants of the future

20 Sep 2013 Scientists have discovered an important mechanism in plant cells which regulates the direction that plant cells grow. The discovery could have the potential to develop higher yielding crops or increase the size of plants grown for use in biofuels. A BBSRC-funded team at The University of Manchester demonstrated how the building of plant cell scaffolds is regulated to produce distinct shapes, allowing the plant cell to grow in particular directions. Plant cells can expand to up to 1,000 times their original size, and the growth and shape of plant cells is determined by the direction of expansion. Many plant cells, such as those in the root or stem, need to expand in a particular direction for the plant to develop properly. Key to this process is the distribution of cellulose, a strong compound which forms much of the plant cell wall. A protein scaffold with the cell, called the microtubule network, dictates the organisation of cellulose in the wall by forming tracks which guide its placement.