Arp2/3 and SCAR: plants move to the fore.
The actin-nucleating Arp2/3 complex is essential for life in yeast and animals, but not in plants, in which mutants of Arp2/3 complex components show relatively minor developmental abnormalities. Animal cells control the activity of the Arp2/3 complex through the suppressor of cyclic AMP receptor (SCAR) complex to achieve cell motility. Amazingly, plants have also retained the SCAR cell-motility pathway, and now provide a unique model for the study of new aspects of SCAR function in the absence of cell motility.