Cell adhesion maintenance and controlled separation in plants

Abstract

Cell-cell adhesion is a fundamental aspect of maintaining multicellular integrity while ensuring controlled cell and organ shedding, intercellular space formation and intrusive growth. Understanding of the precise mechanisms governing regulated cell separation, such as abscission, considerably progressed in recent decades. However, our comprehension of how plants maintain adhesion within tissues in which it is essential remains limited. Here we review some of the well-established knowledge along with latest discoveries that lead us to rethink the way developmentally controlled cell separation and adhesion maintenance may work. We also specifically explore the relationship between growth and adhesion, highlighting their similarities and coupling, and propose a plausible framework in which growth and adhesion are tightly co-regulated.