Intracellular junctions provide routes for direct cell-to-cell signalling in both plants and animals. The present volume treats the parallels and differences between such junctions in animals and plants and discusses the most recent methods of examining the physiological functions and regulation of intracellular communication. Strong evidence of both molecular as well as functional simi§ larities between plasmodesmata and gap junctions is increasing. Even more interesting is the discovery that animal gap junction proteins cross-react immunologically with some proteins in plant cells. Thus the molecular construction and function of these crucially important ultrastructural cell components is now open to a concerted research effort to understand how cells, both plant and animal, facilitate and regulate intercellular transport.

Inhalt

Structural and molecular diversity of gap junctions.- A structural analysis of the gap junctional channel and the 16K protein.- Molecular heterogeneity of gap junctions in different mammalian tissues.- Biochemical and structural properties of the protein constituent of junctional domains in eye lens fiber plasma membranes.- Junctional communication: The role of communication compartments in complex multicellular organisms.- Electrophysiological properties of gap junction channels.- Cardiac gap junctions: Gating properties of single channels.- Patterns of gap junctional permeability in developing insect tissues.- Gap junctional intercellular communication and carcinogenesis.- Progressive restrictions in gap junctional communication during development.- The neck region of plasmodesmata: General architecture and some functional aspects.- Immunological investigations of relatedness between plant and animal connexins.- Secondary formation of plasmodesmata in cultured cells - Structural and functional aspects.- Distribution of plasmodesmata in leaves. A comparison of Cananga odorata with other species using different measures of plasmodesmatal frequency.- Plasmodesmatal structure and function in nectarines.- Analytical studies of dye-coupling between plant cells.- Function and localisation of movement proteins of tobacco mosaic virus and red clover mottle virus.- Plasmodesmata-virus interaction.