In this research conference proposal, the aim is to convene a meeting of plant and animal scientists to present current findings and to discuss a broad range of issues that pertain to the structure and function of plasmodesmata in the context of intercellular transport. Activity on plasmodesmata has recently intensified, and this meeting will serve to focus the current group toward important issues, to attract new researchers into this area, and to provide workers in related fields with an assessment of progress. The meeting proceedings are to be published in a compendium volume. Intercellular transport of ions and small molecules in higher plants occurs through plasmodesmata. The fine structure of these cytoplasmic links between adjacent cells has been under discussion since the early days of electron microscopy, yet the plasmodesmata remain a black box through which various substances move from cell to cell. Recently, research on plasmodesmata has intensified. This conference focuses on this new work and aims to provide scientists working in this field with an opportunity to describe their work and its meaning in the context of intercellular transport in plants.
