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Science 26 October 2001:
Vol. 294. no. 5543, pp. 795 - 797
DOI: 10.1126/science.1066242
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Perspectives

PLANT BIOLOGY:
A Baroque Residue in Red Wine

Herman Höfte

The rigid cell walls of plants are able to withstand the enormous turgor pressure exerted by the solute inside each cell. However, this rigidity presents plant cells with something of a problem when they want to grow. In an illuminating Perspective, Höfte discusses new findings showing that alterations in the cross-linking of a complex sugar called RGII in the plant cell wall alters the rigidity of the wall, enabling plants to grow.

The author is in the Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire, INRA, 78210 Versailles Cedex, France. E-mail: hofte{at}versailles.inra.fr

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