RNA-seq analysis of intrusively growing fibers from flax stem

The intrusive growth, a type of plant cell enlargement occurring in the depths of plant tissues, is characterized by the invasion of a growing cell between its neighbours due to a higher rate of elongation. The intrusive growth is limited to relatively few cell types, which are surrounded by other cells that may grow symplastically, divide, or differentiate, making very hard to obtain RNA samples exclusively from the intrusively growing cells. To reveal the largely unknown mechanisms of the intrusive growth, we applied laser microdissection to isolate the flax phloem fibers specifically at this stage of development. The received data would help not only to advance our understanding of this important aspect of plant biology, but also to manipulate the yield and quality of fiber crops.