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Plant Cell Wall Dynamics During Cell Cycle (CeWalDyn)
Start date: Apr 1, 2013, End date: Mar 31, 2015 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Unlike in animals, the formation and growth of the plant body is strongly influenced by the presence of a rigid structure encapsulating the cell – the cell wall. Plant development must therefore be coordinated with the synthesis and remodelling of highly complex cell wall structure. Cell elongation and cell division are the two main processes which give rise to the plant body. Whilst cell wall properties during cell elongation have been relatively well studied on Arabidopsis hypocotyls and on Chara internodes, description of cell wall behaviour associated with cell division is largely absent. DNA microarray data on synchronous cell cultures suggest up-regulation of many cell wall component acting enzymes in particular points of the cell cycle. Moreover, the concept of plant cytokinesis supposes structural changes in cell walls.We propose to use the state of art technologies in cell, developmental biology and systems biochemistry to describe cell wall related processes in dividing cells. As model systems we will use Arabidopsis plants and cell cultures but also a broad panel of algae, land plants and crop species. Our work will incorporate detailed quantitative and qualitative analyses of the dynamism of the cell wall components and related enzymatic activities at different stages of the cell cycle. We will also employ state of art microscopic and ultramicroscopic techniques to study the spatiotemporal distribution of the cell wall components. This approach will include development of novel technology for in situ and real time detection of various carbohydrates. We will also analyse cellular and developmental consequence of the loss- and gain-of action of the cell cycle regulated cell wall-acting enzymes to get the functional information of molecular pathways leading to proper cell division. Our project thus aims to address fundamental questions regarding plant development at uni- and multicellular level within the evolutionary perspective.

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