Investigating Polarity Development and Evolution as Key Drivers of Plant Body Structure and Growth Diversity

Abstract

The complex structure of multicellular organisms is formed by arranging multiple types of cells in a specific threedimensional organization. In the development of multicellular bodies, polarity establishments are indispensable on various scales, ranging from molecular localization on the cellular scale to the body axis on the scale of individual organisms. In this special issue on polarity in developments, we compared the establishment and reconstruction of polarity in various clades, both plants and animals, aiming to discuss whether there are common properties beyond clades and/or features unique to plants. We expect that discussions in this issue will provide new aspects of the evolution of multicellular organisms, including the relation between regularity of polarity and the evolution of body plans.