Abstract
In somatic higher plant cell types including BY-2 cells, cytokinesis is initiated with generation of an immature cell plate between separating groups of anaphase chromosomes, and proceeds with centrifugal growth of the cell plate. Such outward cleavage, ensuring partitioning of daughter nuclei, relies on characteristic outward redistribution of phragmoplast microtubules. As has been shown in an experiment by Yasuhara and coworker using BY-2 cells (Plant Cell Physiol. 34:21-29, 1993), treatment with the microtubule-stabilizing agent, taxol, can slow down the outward redistribution of phragmoplast microtubules. On this basis, the microtubule redistribution has been hypothesized to occur in repeated cycles of disassembly and re-assembly of the microtubules. Findings through analyses of microtubule behavior using a photo-bleaching technique in our studies add new evidence to this hypothesis.
