Recently, Professor Chen Xu of the Center of Horticultural Plant Biology and Metabolomics of Cross-strait Joint Research Institute published a review article entitled “Environmental and Endogenous Control of Cortical Microtubule Orientation” in the international authoritative journal 《Trends in Cell Biology》. FAFU was mentioned as the research unit of the first author, and Professor Chenxu was both the first author and corresponding author.

The article can be summarized as follows:
Plant growth requires a tight coordination of cell shape and anisotropic expansion. Owing to their immobility, plant cells determine body architecture through the orientation of cell division and cell expansion. Microtubule cytoskeleton represents a versatile cellular structure essential for coordinating flexible cell morphogenesis. Previous studies have identified a large number of microtubule-associated regulators that control microtubule dynamics; however, the mechanisms by which microtubule reorientation responds to exogenous and environmental stimuli are largely unknown. The paper reviewed the molecular details of microtubule dynamics that are required for cortical microtubule array pattern formation, and recapitulate current knowledge on the mechanisms by which various environmental and endogenous stimuli control cortical microtubule reorientation.

《Trends in Cell Biology》 is the leading review journal in the field of cell biology and molecular biology, which reports the general reviews on the most authoritative scientific progresses.  Its impact factor is 13.527.
The article link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962892416000155

Correspondant/Photogragher: the Cross-strait Joint Research Institute    Lin Juan

Translator: Zheng Wei

Auditor: College of Crop Science   Lu Yunhai