Research in the Shaw Lab

We are interested to learn how the plant cell obtains a particular shape. One of the important underlying mechanisms for shape determination is cortical micortubule organization. The interphase microtubules (red dotted lines in the figure) form 'tracks' just under the plasma membrane in the cell cortex. Cellulose synthase complexes embedded in the plasma membrane (white dots) use the microtubules as guide-wires for creating cellulose on the outside of the cell. The organization of the cellulose microfibers (black lines), randomly arrayed or co-aligned, determines a great deal of the morphogenetic properties of the plant cell. The pattern created by the cortical microtubules, therefore, has a significant effect on how the plant cell cell expands to make a specific shape. When taken over an entire tissue, this property helps define the morphogenesis of the growing plant.