Cell and Developmental Biology Commons^™

This paper has no abstract; this is the first paragraph. As plant growth is restricted to defined zones of growing organs, the methodologically consistent analysis of spatial growth rate patterns in organ growth zones is prerequisite for studies into the regulation of cell growth in situ (Silk, 1984). The elongation zones at the tips of growing roots are classical objects of kinematic growth analysis, which aims at the quantitative description of growth rate gradients (Erickson & Sax, 1956). Root growth zones were generally believed to be characterized by growth rates that change gradually along bell-shaped growth gradients (Erickson & Sax, …

This paper has no abstract; this is the first paragraph. Motility of cell components in both animal and plant cells is mostly based on the movement of motor proteins along actin filaments or microtubules [Boal, 2002]. The dominance of ATP hydrolysis as the energy source for such movements is so complete, that modern textbooks define “motor proteins” as nucleoside triphosphate-dependent actuators [e.g., Alberts et al., 2002]. In only one known case, a reversible mechanism of cell motility is driven by the interaction of Ca2+ and the responsive protein(s). Some sessile ciliates control the effective length of their stalk by means …