Plasmodesma

Plasmodesma (plural is 'plasmodesmata') is a microscopic channel across the cell wall of a plant cell.Oparka K.J. 2005. Plasmodesmata. Blackwell. ; Plasmodesmata (www.dictionary.com) It allows transport and communication between neighbouring cells. Plasmodesmata also evolved independently in some algae.

Unlike animal cells, every plant cell is surrounded by a polysaccharide cell wall. Neighbouring plant cells are therefore separated by a pair of cell walls. Although cell walls are permeable to small soluble molecules, plasmodesmata allow direct, regulated, intercellular transport of substances between cells.Traas, Jan & Vernoux, Teva 2002. The shoot apical meristem: the dynamics of a stable structure.    Phil Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 357(1422): 737–747, page 744.  

Similar structures connect animal cells. Stromules form between plastids in plant cells.

 References 

Category:Plant anatomy
Category:Cell biology