Cryo-TEM investigations of plasmodesmata
EMSL Project ID
60139
Abstract
Plasmodesmata are symplasmic connections between plant cells that mediate short distance transport of a large variety of molecules such as sucrose and amino acids, but also ions and in some cases proteins. The size exclusion limit which defines what molecules may pass through plasmodesmata directly depends on their structure. Models on the structure of plasmodesmata have so far been developed based on conventional TEM images. It appears that those contain major artifacts as physiological data indicate that much larger molecules may move through plasmodesmata as the gap space shown in models and iamges would allow. We will use Cryo-TEM to reconstruct the in vitro structure of plasmodesmata. Since plasmodesmata are involved in basically all aspects of plant function, we expect the project to have a major impact on a wide variety of fields.
Project Details
Start Date
2021-08-06
End Date
2022-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator