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Plants too have a sense of direction
It is long known that animals have a built-in compass. But for plants too it is important to know what is up, down, inner and outer. Without this sense of direction plant leaves may not grow upwards or roots may not grow downwards. New research shows that an ancient protein is located in a corner of the plant cell where it controls the orientation of cell divisions. This compass protein appears to be very similar to the protein found animals. This was discovered by researchers from the Biochemistry group in collaboration with Cambridge University.