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companion cell

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noun Botany.
any of a number of specialized parenchymal cells adjacent to a sieve tube in the phloem of flowering plants, believed to regulate the flow of nutrients through the tube.
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Origin of companion cell

First recorded in 1885–90
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Scientific definitions for companion cell

companion cell
[ kəm-păn′yən ]

A specialized parenchyma cell, located in the phloem of flowering plants and closely associated with the development and function of a sieve-tube element. Companion cells probably provide ATP, proteins, and other substances to the sieve-tube elements, whose cytoplasm lacks many structures necessary for cell maintenance.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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