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Plant biology

Seeing the wood and the trees

Nature volume 517, pages 558–559 (2015)Cite this article

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This article has been updated

The identification of the gene regulatory network that controls the formation of xylem — the major component of wood — opens up new avenues for manipulating plant biomass. See Article p.571

Cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin are key natural polymers that make up the bulk of plant biomass1. These biopolymers are also renewable resources for the production of dietary fibre, paper and biofuels2. On page 571 of this issue, Taylor-Teeples et al.3 report the identification of the gene regulatory network that controls the synthesis of these biopolymers in root xylem cells of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

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Figure 1: Building a secondary cell wall.

Change history

  • 22 January 2015

    The source for Figure 1 was not credited. This has now been added.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anthony Bishopp and Malcolm J. Bennett are in the Centre for Plant Integrative Biology, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington LE12 5RD, UK.,

    Anthony Bishopp & Malcolm J. Bennett

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  1. Anthony Bishopp
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  2. Malcolm J. Bennett
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Correspondence to Anthony Bishopp or Malcolm J. Bennett.

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Bishopp, A., Bennett, M. Seeing the wood and the trees. Nature 517, 558–559 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14085

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