The plant vascular system constitutes a network of interconnected cells for the transport of water and dissolved materials throughout the plant. Vascular tissues are typically organized in bundles or strands that contain two kinds of conducting tissues, phloem and xylem, each comprising a variety of distinguishable cell types. Dissolved photoassimilates from source organs in the shoot are transported in the phloem, while transfer of water and minerals from roots occurs in the xylem. Vascular strands are typically aligned with the apical basal axis of the plant, but can also be arranged in amazing network patterns, as for example in leaves.
At present, neither the molecular mechanisms underlying overall tissue patterning within plant organs nor the specific signals ensuring vascular continuity within variable networks are known, however, auxin and its apical basal flow has long been implicated in promoting continuous vascular differentiation. The projects listed below aim at a molecular understanding of auxin signaling in vascular differentiation, the identification of genes relevant for vascular tissue patterning and the large-scale identification of genes expressed in the vascular system.
Arabidopsis vascular development | Auxin signals and vascular differentiation | Auxin transport in vascular differentiation
