One surprising fact about plant cells

Plants require carbon for their growth, which comes from carbon dioxide in the air. They “breathe” in this carbon through pores called “stomata,” which comes from the Greek word stoma or “mouth.” You can see stomata on the underside of leaves for most plants. 

Stanford Biology Professor Dominique Bergmann pursues fundamental knowledge about the way plants are built by focusing on the development of stomata in plants like Arabidopsis thaliana. This spindly specimen may not catch our eyes with showy flowers or hypnotic leaves, but its biology is illustrious. In 2000, Arabidopsis became the first plant to have its entire DNA blueprint decoded, meaning anyone could read through its genes like a book. Arabidopsis made headlines again, 22 years later, when scientists successfully grew it in the nutrient-poor moon soil collected by the Apollo missions. 

Now, this star plant is helping the Bergmann Lab researchers understand how plant cells can create, maintain, and decide their fates – and what makes some plants capable of thriving in hard climates where others fail. 

To uncover how exactly plant cells make choices, the Bergmann Lab team has studied what systems within and surrounding a cell inform its destiny during development of Arabidopsis leaves. Using computer models and live imaging, they discovered that cells must listen to their neighbors, but also that a cell pays attention to its own size – and all of this, together, helps determine whether the cell keeps dividing or not. 

Currently, the team is building on a previous investigation that revealed proteins that act like compasses, guiding how cells divide. “Compasses have dual roles,” said Bergmann. “They can point out directions on the whole leaf, and they can also reorient components within cells.” By reorienting, the cells take on shapes that form stomata. 

Detailed insights like these do more than add to our understanding about the fundamental nature of plant growth. The Bergmann Lab’s work could inform options for adapting agricultural plants – such as tomatoes and cereal grasses – to climate change and other environmental challenges.

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