PubMed · 2026-02-20
Scientists discovered that the actin cytoskeleton — a scaffold inside plant cells — is essential for controlling which direction a cell divides, overriding the cell's natural tendency to split along the shortest path. This challenges the idea that mechanical stress alone guides division and points to actin as a key player in shaping plant tissue.
Cell division in plants does not always follow the shortest geometric path; certain cells actively deviate, dividing perpendicular to the main growth axis.
The actin cytoskeleton is required to maintain this non-default division orientation, acting against the cell's intrinsic geometric bias.
Tissue-scale mechanical stress alone is insufficient to explain division plane selection; actin-mediated signaling is a necessary component of the regulatory mechanism.