wood-formation
Wood formation, or xylogenesis, is the developmental process by which vascular cambium cells differentiate into secondary xylem, producing the lignified structural tissue known as wood. This process is central to plant science because it underlies stem strength, water transport, and carbon storage, making it a key model for studying cell differentiation, hormone signaling, and gene regulatory networks. Insights into wood formation also inform efforts to improve biomass quality for timber, paper, and biofuel production.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-06-22
Scientists discovered that two families of cell-surface signaling proteins — the ERECTA and PXY receptor kinase families — physically join forces to regulate the cambium, the thin stem-cell layer that makes wood. This explains how trees and other vascular plants control wood production, placing these protein partnerships at the center of xylem formation and carbon storage.
PXY and ER family receptor kinase proteins physically bind each other, forming cross-family complexes in the vascular cambium stem-cell niche
Constitutively activating PXY signaling caused dramatic cambial defects only when ER or ERL2 was present, proving the two families are functionally interdependent
Combined loss-of-function mutations across both receptor kinase families produced more severe cambial disruption than mutations in either family alone, revealing additive genetic interaction
