Edit page | Page history | Printable version

Plasmodesmata

(singular, plasmodesma)

• microscopic channels of plants facilitating transport and communication between individual cells. Unlike animal cells, plant cells are protected by an impermeable cell wall; and as such, plasmodesmata are required for intercellular activity. Cells can utilize both passive and active transport to move molecules and ions through the passage. A plasmodesma is constructed of three main layers, the plasma membrane, the cytoplasmic sleeve, and the desmotubule.

• plant cells being linked together by thin strands.