Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK. Sturner@fs1.scg.man.ac.uk
Two recent papers illustrate contrasting approaches to studying gene expression during development of the xylem, the tissue that transports water and solutes around higher plants. The two methods used, studying single cells differentiating in vitro and collecting samples from across the region around the cambium of poplar trees, have both revealed genes that have altered expression during xylem development.