Secret Conflict: How Planting Cells Know When to Grow

It’s been Long-term biology: How do cells determine their size?

The answer, available, was hidden inside Robert Sablowski’s computer files, dust collection since 2013. “I’ve had knowledge for years, but I haven’t looked right,” says Sablowski, a botanist. at the John Innes Center in Norwich, England. He was, in his early work, researching a protein called KRP4. By mixing it with the sweet protein of jellyfish for illumination, Sablowski is able to study the inside of the plant chamber, but is unaware that it will be important in understanding cell size.

In order for organisms to grow, their cells must grow, replicate DNA, and divide. But scientists who study the process, called the cell cycle, have already learned that the parts are not the same – cells are often divided into cells, and their size is adjusted afterwards. Mu research published in Science last month, Sablowski and colleagues revealed how the plants do this: Cells use their DNA as a measuring cup. When this was discovered by studying a plant called Arabidopsis, can have a profound effect on understanding the growth of animal and human cells, and can affect the future of production.

Determining how cells measure their own size has been difficult, since most cellular proteins grow and match the skin itself. Sablowski compares this to trying to measure it with your hand. “You can’t, because your arm grows just like your body,” he says. “You need some mention to know your size.” What does not change as the cell grows, however, is its DNA. Scientists have speculated that a cell might use its own DNA as a form of identification to measure its size, but Sablowski’s team was the first to establish evidence for this process.

Martin Howard of the John Innes Center, who assisted in the development of essential mathematics, said: “It has been remarkable for many years in the history of biology, how cells can accomplish this task. : It is too big and it can be difficult for a cell phone to quickly retrieve information from its DNA; it is too small and the skin does not have enough space to divide properly, making it difficult to share and grow which can lead to disease.

Arabidopsis they are actually weeds, according to Sablowski, but are considered a role model in plant biology because they are easy to grow and mature quickly. This means that they have already been studied by other researchers in the field. “A group of Arabidopsis has been difficult, “says Marco D’Ario, a graduate of the John Innes Center who designed and facilitated the experiment.

The group grew Arabidopsis in pots for about six weeks, then cut a small sprout that grows, the part where the leaves and flowers come out, to see the size beyond the microscope. They can track up to approximately 1,000X magnitudes, the location and size of each cell at the peak of growth in various spheres. Sablowski and D’Ario were selling change, looking at the rooms every hour for more than two days. “We had weapons, they had them. We just had to wrap our hands and try 48 hours to find what no one else had, ”says Sablowski.