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Science 2 October 1998:
Vol. 282. no. 5386, pp. 28 - 29
DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5386.28
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News Focus

PLANT BIOLOGY:
When Walls Can Talk, Plant Biologists Listen

Evelyn Strauss

New research is showing that plant cell walls, once thought to be inert boxes passively encasing the active, living material of the cell, contain a gallery of carbohydrates and proteins--whose identities are still largely mysterious--that appear to "talk" to other molecules, both inside and outside the cell. Researchers are trying to track down these messenger molecules and are also exploring just what information they convey. So far, most of the chatter seems to be related to development, as walls direct some cells to become roots while ordering others to develop into shoots and leaves.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Extracellular Calmodulin Stimulates Light-Independent RbcS-GUS Expression in Suspension-Cultured Cells of Transgenic Tobacco.
J. Zhou, L. Ma, S. Zhang, Y. Zhu, and D. Sun (2001)
Plant Cell Physiol. 42, 1049-1055
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Atomic levers control pyranose ring conformations.
P. E. Marszalek, Y.-P. Pang, H. Li, J. E. Yazal, A. F. Oberhauser, and J. M. Fernandez (1999)
PNAS 96, 7894-7898
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)