idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

Nachrichten, Termine, Experten

Grafik: idw-Logo
Science Video Project
idw-Abo

idw-News App:

AppStore

Google Play Store



Instanz:
Teilen: 
27.04.2017 15:52

How Plants Form Their Sugar Transport Routes

Marietta Fuhrmann-Koch Kommunikation und Marketing
Universität Heidelberg

    In experiments on transport tissues in plants, researchers from Heidelberg University were able to identify factors of crucial importance for the formation of the plant tissue known as phloem. According to Prof. Dr Thomas Greb of the Centre for Organismal Studies (COS), these factors differ from all previously known factors that trigger the specification of cells. The findings of the Heidelberg researchers substantially expand our understanding of the metabolic processes in plants. Their results were published in the journal "Current Biology".

    Press Release
    Heidelberg, 27 April 2017

    How Plants Form Their Sugar Transport Routes
    Results of Heidelberg researchers open up new areas of research

    In experiments on transport tissues in plants, researchers from Heidelberg University were able to identify factors of crucial importance for the formation of the plant tissue known as phloem. According to Prof. Dr Thomas Greb of the Centre for Organismal Studies (COS), these factors differ from all previously known factors that trigger the specification of cells. The findings of the Heidelberg researchers substantially expand our understanding of the metabolic processes in plants. Their results were published in the journal "Current Biology".

    Phloem, also called bast, is a vascular tissue that runs through all the organs of plants. It transports sugars formed in the leaves during photosynthesis. "In the course of our research on plant development, we discovered three main factors that are critical for the formation of phloem," states Thomas Greb. These factors are the proteins SMXL3, SMXL4, and SMXL5. They act in the nuclei of cells that develop into phloem tissue, and from there alter the cells to specialise in transport. The researcher explains that the factors are similar to others involved in hormonal signal transmission – but they do not react to these hormones. This unresponsiveness is crucial for building robust phloem tissue and therefore for the growth of the plant in general.

    "Until now, we understood very little about phloem formation, which is why our results open up new areas of research in a number of ways," explains the Heidelberg biologist. The researchers hope to gain new insights into the regulation of long-distance transport of sugars and metabolic products. How plants react to their environment through the formation of bast could also be studied in greater detail. "That gives us vital clues about the evolution of plants," says Prof. Greb, who directs the Developmental Physiology working group at the COS.

    Original publication:
    E.S. Wallner et al.: Strigolactone and Karrikin-Independent SMXL Proteins Are Central Regulators of Phloem Formation, Curr Biol 27(8):1241-1247, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.014

    Contact:
    Prof. Dr Thomas Greb
    Centre for Organismal Studies (COS)
    Phone +49 6221 54-5524
    thomas.greb@cos.uni-heidelberg.de

    Communications and Marketing
    Press Office
    Phone +49 6221 54-2311
    presse@rektorat.uni-heidelberg.de


    Weitere Informationen:

    http://www.cos.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/t.greb?l=_e


    Bilder

    Shown is the activity of the SMXL4 gene (yellow) in very early phloem cells of the root tip of Arabidopsis thaliana.
    Shown is the activity of the SMXL4 gene (yellow) in very early phloem cells of the root tip of Arabi ...
    Image: Eva-Sophie Wallner
    None


    Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
    Journalisten
    Biologie
    überregional
    Forschungsergebnisse, Wissenschaftliche Publikationen
    Englisch


     

    Shown is the activity of the SMXL4 gene (yellow) in very early phloem cells of the root tip of Arabidopsis thaliana.


    Zum Download

    x

    Hilfe

    Die Suche / Erweiterte Suche im idw-Archiv
    Verknüpfungen

    Sie können Suchbegriffe mit und, oder und / oder nicht verknüpfen, z. B. Philo nicht logie.

    Klammern

    Verknüpfungen können Sie mit Klammern voneinander trennen, z. B. (Philo nicht logie) oder (Psycho und logie).

    Wortgruppen

    Zusammenhängende Worte werden als Wortgruppe gesucht, wenn Sie sie in Anführungsstriche setzen, z. B. „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“.

    Auswahlkriterien

    Die Erweiterte Suche können Sie auch nutzen, ohne Suchbegriffe einzugeben. Sie orientiert sich dann an den Kriterien, die Sie ausgewählt haben (z. B. nach dem Land oder dem Sachgebiet).

    Haben Sie in einer Kategorie kein Kriterium ausgewählt, wird die gesamte Kategorie durchsucht (z.B. alle Sachgebiete oder alle Länder).