SIDEBAR : Plant Cell Death Resources
Just as in animals, programmed cell death plays an important role in plant development. Researchers generally recognize two times at which plants invoke cellular suicide. First, the process functions to eliminate cells that are no longer needed at certain points in a plant's life history, such as the germination of a seed into a seedling. Second, programmed cell death may also be triggered during attacks by pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi to sequester and kill invaded cells, a phenomenon called the hypersensitive response. Investigators are already anticipating applying knowledge gained from these basic studies to increase the seed quality of cereal crops, engineer disease-resistant plants, and mediate disease susceptibility.
GRIM REAPER: Thale cress in the grip of cell death: dying plants, left; healthy plants, right. The field is just starting to take root, investigators agree, although the phenomenon has been recognized for ...
