In Plant Cells, A Conserved Mechanism for Perceiving Mechanical Force Resides in Unexpected Location
Published:02 Aug.2021 Source:Washington University in St. Louis
Minuscule tunnels through the cell membrane help cells to perceive and respond to mechanical forces, such as pressure or touch. A new study in the journal Science is among the first to directly investigate what one type of these mechanosensitive ion channels is doing in the tip-growing cells in moss and pollen tubes of flowering plants, and how.
Biologists led by Elizabeth Haswell at Washington University in St. Louis discovered that so-called PIEZO channels are not found along the plasma membrane in plant cells as they are in animal cells.