CONTROL OF CELL-PROLIFERATION DURING PLANT DEVELOPMENT

Knowledge of the control of cell division in eukaryotes has increased tremendously in recent years. The isolation and characterization of th e major players from a number of systems and the study of their intera ctions have led to a comprehensive understanding of how the different components of the cell cycle apparatus are brought together and assemb led in a fine-tuned machinery. Many parts of this machine are highly c onserved in organisms as evolutionary distant as yeast and animals. So me key regulators of cell division have also been identified in higher plants and have been shown to be functional homologues of the yeast o r animal proteins. Although still in its early days, investigations in to the regulation of these molecules have provided some clues on how c ell division is coupled to plant development.