ArticleProtoplasma2015
The myth of interconnected plastids and related phenomena.
Article in Protoplasma, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fingers for signaling? A possible role of stromules in intracellular communication.Plant physiology · 2026Article
- Plant plastids: from evolutionary origins to functional specialization and organelle interactions.Journal of experimental botany · 2025Review
- Stromules: An Incident or Formalized Pathway for Molecules Transfer Between Organelles?International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Proximity driven plastid-nucleus relationships are facilitated by tandem plastid-ER dynamics.Journal of experimental botany · 2024Article
- Organelle Interactions in Plant Cells.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2024Review
- Microcystin-LR, a Cyanobacterial Toxin, Induces Changes in the Organization of Membrane Compartments in Arabidopsis.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- Organelle extensions in plant cells.Plant physiology · 2021Article
- Article
- Cytomixis in plants: facts and doubts.Protoplasma · 2018Review
- Article
- Stromules: Probing Formation and Function.Plant physiology · 2018Review
- Plastid Envelope-Localized Proteins Exhibit a Stochastic Spatiotemporal Relationship to Stromules.Frontiers in plant science · 2018Article
- Visualisation of plastid degradation in sperm cells of wheat pollen.Protoplasma · 2017Article
- Low-Phosphate Induction of Plastidal Stromules Is Dependent on Strigolactones But Not on the Canonical Strigolactone Signaling Component MAX2.Plant physiology · 2016Article
- From information to knowledge.Protoplasma · 2016Article
- The Formation of Stromules In Vitro from Chloroplasts Isolated from Nicotiana benthamiana.PloS one · 2016Article
- Formation of chloroplast protrusions and catalase activity in alpine Ranunculus glacialis under elevated temperature and different CO2/O2 ratios.Protoplasma · 2015Article
- Applications of phototransformable fluorescent proteins for tracking the dynamics of cellular components.Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology · 2015Review
- Chloroplast protrusions in leaves of Ranunculus glacialis L. respond significantly to different ambient conditions, but are not related to temperature stress.Plant, cell & environment · 2015Article
- Fluorescent Protein Aided Insights on Plastids and their Extensions: A Critical Appraisal.Frontiers in plant science · 2015Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Studies spread over nearly two and a half centuries have identified the primary plastid in autotrophic algae and plants as a pleomorphic, multifunctional organelle comprising of a double-membrane envelope enclosing an organization of internal membranes submerged in a watery stroma. All plastid units have been observed extending and retracting thin stroma-filled tubules named stromules sporadically. Observations on living plant cells often convey the impression that stromules connect two or more independent plastids with each other. When photo-bleaching techniques were used to suggest that macromolecules such as the green fluorescent protein could flow between already interconnected plastids, for many people this impression changed to conviction. However, it was noticed only recently that the concept of protein flow between plastids rests solely on the words "interconnected plastids" for which details have never been provided. We have critically reviewed botanical literature dating back to the 1880s for understanding this term and the phenomena that have become associated with it. We find that while meticulously detailed ontogenic studies spanning nearly 150 years have established the plastid as a singular unit organelle, there is no experimental support for the idea that interconnected plastids exist under normal conditions of growth and development. In this review, while we consider several possibilities that might allow a single elongated plastid to be misinterpreted as two or more interconnected plastids, our final conclusion is that the concept of direct protein flow between plastids is based on an unfounded assumption.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.