The pea stem: a unique experimental system to study the development of the Casparian strip.

The Casparian strip is commonly observed in the endodermis of roots of vascular plants and, in some cases, also in the stems. Pea stems develop the Casparian strip, and its development has been reported to be regulated by blue light. In addition, for the purpose of photobiological studies, pea stems provide a unique experimental system for other physiological studies of the development of the Casparian strip. In this article, I have briefly summarized (1) the effects of environmental factors on the development of the Casparian strip, (2) the advantage of using pea stems for physiological studies of the development of the Casparian strip, and (3) cellular events indicated to be involved in the development of the Casparian strip, focusing on the studies using pea stems as well as other recent studies.