Abstract
Cortical microtubule (cMT) is one of the characteristic structure of higher plant cells. The cMT is considered to be a critical and decisive structure in the formation of plant cell shape, since arrays of cMTs determine the direction of cellulose microfibrils in the primary cell walls, where cellulose constitutes the major component. It is known that the cMTs disappear at beginning of M phase and appear at early G1 phase from perinuclear regions and finally transversely orient to the long axis of the cell. However, the mechanism of cMT reorganization is unknown. In this study, we established a BY-2 cell line expressing a fusion protein of GFP and end binding protien 1 (EB1) and visualized the plus-end of MT. To clarify the mechanism of cMT orientation in M/G1 interface, live imaging and quantitative image analysis were performed combined with simulation analysis. As a result, the effect of cell shape on cMT elongation was raised as regulating factor of cMT orientation.
