Coordination of cell polarity and the patterning of leaf vein networks

During development, the behavior of cells in tissues is coordinated along specific orientations or directions by coordinating the polar localization of components in those cells. The coordination of such cell polarity is perhaps nowhere more spectacular than in developing leaves, where the polarity of hundreds of cells is coordinated in the leaf epidermis and inner tissue to pattern vein networks. Available evidence suggests that the spectacular coordination of cell polarity that patterns vein networks is controlled by auxin transport and levels, and by genes that have been implicated in the polar localization of auxin transporters.