Minisymposium 1: Cell Walls

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Abs # M0102: Dynamic Visualization of Individual CESA Particles in Cells Depleted of Microtubules

Presenter:	Paredez, Alexander R       Contact Presenter
Authors	Paredez, Alexander R (A) (B)  Somerville, Chris R (A) (B)  Ehrhardt, David W (B)
Affiliations:	(A): Stanford University (B): Carnegie Institution Department of Plant Biology

Expression of a functional yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) fusion to cellulose synthase (CESA) in transgenic Arabidopsis plants allowed the process of cellulose deposition to be visualized in living cells. Spinning disk confocal microscopy revealed that CESA complexes in the plasma membrane move at constant rates in linear tracks that are aligned and were coincident with cortical microtubules. Within each observed linear track, complex movement was bidirectional. Inhibition of microtubule polymerization changed the distribution and pattern of moving CESA complexes in the membrane, indicating a relatively direct mechanism for guidance of cellulose deposition by the cytoskeleton. In recent years there has been some controversy about the role microtubules have in guiding cellulose deposition. Our data indicates that microtubules do have a role in guiding cellulose synthase complexes. Current models for CESA-microtubule interaction can not account for observations we have made with single particle tracking experiments and a new model will be presented.