Figure 1

Arabidopsis thaliana trichomes and epidermal pavement cells provide model systems in which the cytoskeleton's role in plant cell development is investigated. (a) Unicellular, multi-branched trichomes on the leaf epidermis of a 6-day-old wild-type plant. (b) Interlocked pavement cells form the epidermis of a 6-day-old cotyledon. Pavement cell development requires the activity of a ROP/RIC mediated pathway, while mutants such as spike1 lack pavement-cell lobing, and also have defective trichome morphology. Scale bars represent 50 μm. Scanning electron micrographs kindly provided by Geoff Wasteneys, Australian National University.