Plant development: new models and approaches bring progress

In August 2006, plant biologists gathered at the FASEB 'Mechanisms in Plant Development' meeting in Vermont, which was organized by Laurie Smith and Ueli Grossniklaus. A variety of plant developmental mechanisms were presented at this meeting and, although many talks focused on Arabidopsis thaliana as a primary model in which to study plant development, research in maize, tomato, Chlamydomonas and other plants also provided insight into various topics, such as cell-type specification, small RNA biosynthesis and action, hormone perception and transport, and cell and organ size.