Plasmodesma

A membrane-lined channel through a plant cell wall that connects neighboring cells, allowing molecules and signals to pass between them.

Plasmodesmal structure: The arrangement of membranes, cytoplasm, and endoplasmic reticulum within a plasmodesma. Its nested structure explains how a channel crosses the cell wall while linking adjacent cytoplasms.
Plant cell wall: A rigid extracellular layer that surrounds plant cells and provides structural support. Plasmodesmata are specialized openings that traverse this otherwise continuous barrier.
Plant vascular system: The network of xylem and phloem that transports water, minerals, and sugars through plants. Plasmodesmata connect vascular cells and help coordinate transport with surrounding tissues.
Eduard Tangl: An Austrian botanist who described connections between plant cells in the nineteenth century. Tangl's observations helped establish plasmodesmata as structural links across plant cell walls.
Plasmodesmal proteome: The set of proteins associated with plasmodesmata and their functions. Identifying channel-associated proteins may reveal how plasmodesmata regulate transport.
Endoplasmic reticulum: A membrane network that synthesizes and transports proteins and lipids in eukaryotic cells. A narrow endoplasmic-reticulum strand runs through many plasmodesmata.
Plasma membrane: A selectively permeable lipid bilayer enclosing a cell's cytoplasm. The plasma membrane lines each plasmodesma and remains continuous between neighboring cells.
Phloem loading: The transfer of sugars into phloem sieve elements for long-distance transport in plants. In some plants, sugars enter the phloem through plasmodesmata connecting neighboring cells.
Eduard Strasburger: A German botanist known for foundational work on plant cell division and fertilization. Strasburger helped develop early accounts of continuity between the contents of plant cells.
Plasmodesmal trafficking: The movement of proteins, RNA, and other cargo through plasmodesmata. The routes and selection rules for many macromolecular cargos remain incompletely understood.

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