A model of the macromolecular structure of plasmodesmata

Plasmodesmata are minute channels that traverse the plant cell wall to provide a cytoplasmic pathway for communication between neighbouring cells. Recently, these connections have been shown to transport molecules much larger than previously thought possible. Indeed, plasmodesmata now appear to be highly dynamic structures that can actively and selectively transport very large molecules between cells. Emerging physiological and molecular data must now be incorporated with information from electron microscopy to generate a dynamic model for their structure.