Role of death in providing lifeline to plants

Abstract

As the major transporters and distributors of water and minerals, xylem vessels and tracheids are the lifeline of plants. Interestingly, the building blocks of these water pipes are dead tracheary elements and vessel elements that have the process of cell death integrated into their differentiation programme. Using the Zinnia in vitro model system for xylogenesis, a key nuclease that is responsible for nuclear degradation during the terminal stages of tracheary element differentiation has been identified recently.