An international group of plant biologists have succeeded for the first time in visualizing how egg cells in plants divides unequally (asymmetric cell division) after being fertilized. The direction of this asymmetric cell division determines the body axis of flowering plants, i.e. the top part producing leaves and flowers, and the bottom part developing into roots. This mechanistic discovery on asymmetric cell division in plants provides insight into finding out how flowering plants have evolved to form their body shape.

Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules
Nagoya University.

Live cell imaging of asymmetric cell division in fertilized plant cells
~ Insight into why leaves grow up and roots grow down in flowering plants ~