Tip Growth in Plant and Fungal Cells

Tip Growth in Plant and Fungal Cells covers the basis of the cellular processes of tip growing plants. The book discusses the role of cell wall architecture in fungal tip growth generation; the enzymology of tip growth in fungi; and the electrobiology of apical growth. The text also describes the role of calcium ions in tip growth of pollen tubes and moss protonema cells; the role of actin in tip growth; and the significance of microtubules in the organization of the cytoplasm and the regulation of tip growth. The role of the endomembrane system of plants and fungi in surface generation in tip-growing cells; the role of vesicles in apical growth; and a new mathematical model of hyphal morphogenesis are considered. The book further demonstrates a comparison of tip growth in prokaryotic and eukaryotic filamentous microorganisms; tip growth and transition to secondary wall synthesis in developing cotton hairs; and neuronal tip growth. The text then encompasses secretion and organelle biogenesis, with emphasis on problems in targeting proteins to specific subcellular compartments. Botanists, microbiologists, geneticists, molecular biologists, cellular biologists, plant pathologists, and people involved in agricultural research will find the book invaluable.