Plant Cell Wall Formation and Regulation

Abstract

Cell wall is one important and characteristic structure of plant cells, which represents the most abundant carbohydrate resources on earth. Based on the development of techniques and knowledge of interdisciplines, much progress has been made in the mechanisms of plant cell wall formation during the past two decades. Basic processes for the synthesis of cell-wall polymers, related vesicle trafficking, transcriptional regulation, and cell wall deposition and remodeling that happen inside and outside cells have been therefore established. In this review, we summarize the hot spot issues and recent progress achieved in the areas of plant cell wall formation and regulation, including new knowledge about cell wall structure and composition, recent findings in the characterization of key components for cellulose biosynthesis at the plasma membrane and for noncellulosic polysaccharide production in the Golgi apparatus, discoveries in the relationship between cytoskeleton and the trafficking processes, and progress in signaling pathways and regulatory network for cell wall formation. All those advances not only further our understanding on the mechanisms of cell wall formation, but also provide the scientific views for exploration and utilization of the economic values of cell wall. In addition, several challenging questions and potential issues regarding this area are discussed.