Plant development: Cell movement relative to each other is bothcommon and very important

摘要

The common view that “plant cellscannot move relative to each other”is incorrect. Relative movement of plantcells relative to each other is expressedduring fiber elongation, growth of armsof branched sclereids, intrusive growth ofthe tips of fusiform initials in the cam-bium, the increase in diameter of vesselmembers, growth in length of vessel-member elements in the secondary xylemof the few monocotyledons that expresssecondary growth, growth of laticifers,formation of tylosis, dilatation in thebark via parenchyma cell expansion, andgrowth of pollen tubes in the style. In allthese cases, part of the plant cell remainsin its original position, while other partsof the cell grow to the new locations,movingsignificantly relative to othercells. Not considering these movementswill cause a delay in studying and under-standing many aspects of differentiationof plant cells and tissues.