Gated communities: apoplastic and symplastic signals converge at plasmodesmata to control cell fates

Due to their rigid cell walls, plant cells can only communicate with each other either by symplastic transport of diverse non-cell autonomous signalling molecules via plasmodesmata (PDs) or by endo- and exocytosis of signalling molecules via the extracellular apoplastic space. PDs are plasma membrane-lined channels spanning the cell wall between neighbouring cells, allowing the exchange of molecules by symplastic movement through them. This review focuses on developmental decisions that are coordinated by short- and long-distance communication of cells via PDs. We propose a model combining both apoplastic and symplastic signalling events via secreted ligands and their PD-localized receptor kinases which gate the symplastic transport of information molecules through PDs. Cell communities can thus coordinate cell-fate decisions non-cell autonomously by connecting or disconnecting symplastic subdomains. Here we concentrate on the establishment of such subdomains in the plant's primary meristems that serve to maintain long-lasting stem cell populations in the shoot and root apical meristems, and discuss how apoplastic signalling via transport of information molecules through PDs is integrated with symplastic feedback signalling events.