Researchers from our top-rated Biosciences Department have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that helps plants control the formation of wood, a finding that could open up new directions for research into plant growth, productivity and carbon storage.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reveals that two proteins on the surface of plant cells work together to regulate the cells that produce wood.
Plant cells rely on receptor proteins on their surface to detect signals from their surroundings and coordinate growth and development.
The research team discovered that two different receptor proteins can join together to form a complex. This allows the cells that give rise to woody tissue to divide and produce new wood.
Scientists have long known that receptor proteins help plants respond to signals from their environment by binding to molecules outside the cell. However, this study shows that different receptors can also work together directly.
The finding represents a new way in which signalling occurs in plants and provides fresh insight into how plants coordinate important biological processes.
The research focused on the cambium, a layer of stem cells found in plants that is responsible for producing wood.
The team showed that the receptor complex plays a key role in controlling the activity of these wood-forming cells. When the receptors work together, the precursor cells continue to divide, promoting wood production.
This is the first evidence that membrane-bound receptor proteins that bind completely different cell surface signals can form receptor to receptor complexes in plants, revealing a mechanism that scientists were previously unaware of.
Because receptor signalling influences many aspects of plant life, including growth, disease resistance and responses to environmental change, similar receptor partnerships may exist elsewhere in plants.
The discovery raises important new questions about how plants perceive and respond to intrinsic signals, or those from their environment.
Researchers now plan to investigate how the interaction between the two receptors affects the signals they send within cells. They also want to find out whether similar receptor complexes occur in other plant species.
In the longer term, understanding how these signalling systems influence plant growth could help researchers identify new ways to improve productivity.
The findings may eventually support efforts to increase wood production and enhance other valuable crop traits.
Our Department of Biosciences is ranked third in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2026. Visit our Biosciences webpages for more information on our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
/filters:quality(70)/prod01/prodbucket01/media/durham-university/central-news-and-events-images/83431-1920X290.jpg)