Time-sequence observations of microtubule dynamics throughout mitosis in living cell suspensions of stable transgenic Arabidopsis--direct evidence for the origin of cortical microtubules at M/G1 interface.

Abstract

Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana, stably expressing a GFP-TUA6 fusion protein, were subcultured in B5 medium supplemented with 2,4-D and BA. In the cell suspensions, the microtubular changes in the mitotic cells could be monitored by time-sequence observations using a time-lapse system of fluorescence microscopy. We have succeeded in following the microtubule (MT) dynamics in living cells throughout mitosis, from the late G2 phase to early G1 phase, and found that, at the M/G1 interface, the cortical MTs were firstly reorganized in the perinuclear regions and then in the cortex, as we had previously suggested (Hasezawa and Nagata 1991, Nagata et al. 1994). The significance of this observation on the origin of cortical MTs is discussed.