CELL MORPHOGENESIS IN ARABIDOPSIS

Cell morphogenesis encompasses all processes required to establish a t hree-dimensional cell shape. Cells acquire the architecture specific t o their developmental context by using the spatial information provide d by internal or external cues. As a response to these signals, cells become reorganized and establish functionally distinct subcellular dom ains that ultimately lead to morphological changes. In its simplest fo rm, cell morphogenesis results in the establishment of asymmetry along one axis, a cell polarity. Although cell polarity has been studied in tensively in budding yeast and epithelial cells, little is known about more complex modes of cell morphogenesis involving multiple axes. In this review we compare the regulation of cell morphogenesis of differe nt genetically well-characterized cell types in Arabidopsis thaliana. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.