Myosins are motor proteins that drive movements along actin filaments and have long been assumed to be responsible for cytoplasmic streaming in plant cells. This conjecture is now firmly established by genetic analysis in the reference species, Arabidopsis thaliana. This work and similar approaches in the moss, Physcomitrella patens, also established that myosin-driven movements are necessary for cell growth and polarity, organelle distribution and shape, and actin organization and dynamics. Identification of a mechanistic link between intracellular movements and cell expansion has proven more challenging, not the least because of the high level of apparent genetic redundancy among myosin family members. Recent progress in the creation of functional complementation constructs and identification of interaction partners promises a way out of this dilemma.

中文翻译：

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了解肌球蛋白在植物中的功能：我们到了吗？

肌球蛋白是驱动蛋白沿着肌动蛋白丝运动的蛋白，长期以来一直被认为是导致植物细胞中细胞质流的原因。现在通过遗传分析在参照物种拟南芥中牢固地建立了这种推测。这项工作以及苔藓中的Physcomitrella patens中的类似方法还确定，肌球蛋白驱动的运动对于细胞生长和极性，细胞器分布和形状以及肌动蛋白的组织和动力学是必需的。事实证明，鉴定细胞内运动与细胞扩增之间的机制联系更具挑战性，这尤其是因为肌球蛋白家族成员之间明显的遗传冗余水平很高。