QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Plant microtubules

Microtubules in animal cells at interphase generally form highly organized radial arrays anchored by centrosomes. Plant microtubules, by contrast, are more dispersed, lacking obvious organizing centres. This fundamental difference reflects the existence of the plant cell wall and to a lesser degree the acquisition of chloroplasts. But to what extent does it necessitate unique regulatory mechanisms? In a Commentary on p. 1345, Geoffrey Wasteneys discusses this question in the light of recent work that has identified several plant microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). The decentralized microtubule arrays appear to self-organize, but this is coordinated by plus- and minus-end-directed kinesin motors. These function together with a family of 65 kDa MAPs unique to plants, which form crossbridges between adjacent microtubules and maintain microtubule spacing. It is a relative of the Dis1/TOG/XMAP215 family (MOR1), however, that determines the stability of cortical arrays. Similarly, a homologue of the microtubule-severing protein katanin p60 also plays an essential role in cortical microtubule organization. Highly similar MAPs thus appear able to coordinate remarkably different microtubule organization strategies.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in JCS:

Microtubule organization in the green kingdom: chaos or self-order?

Geoffrey O. Wasteneys
JCS 2002 115: 1345-1354. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?