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Title: How do plants enlarge? A balancing act; Final report

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/674899· OSTI ID:674899

Cells of plants are surrounded by strong walls that prevent rupture from internal pressures that can be two or three times that of an automobile tire. In this way, the walls protect the cytoplasm. However, at the same time, the cells can enlarge as they grow. How this balancing act works and how it enlarges the plant were the subject of a recent conference at the University of Delaware in Lewes. The aim was to identify areas for future research that could explain the enlargement of whole plants. There is a large practical need to predict and modify plant enlargement but the additional processes that overlie the molecular ones need to be integrated with the molecular information before a picture will emerge. How best to accomplish this involved input from cross-disciplinary areas in biomechanics, physics and engineering as well as molecular biology, biochemistry and ultrastructure.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Delaware, Lewes, DE (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
FG02-96ER20233
OSTI ID:
674899
Report Number(s):
DOE/ER/20233-T1; CONF-9608243-; ON: DE99000165; TRN: AHC29820%%363
Resource Relation:
Conference: Workshop on plant growth, Lewes, DE (United States), 18-21 Aug 1996; Other Information: PBD: [1996]
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English