Dynamics and roles of phragmoplast microfilaments in cell plate formation during cytokinesis of tobacco BY-2 cells

The phragmoplast is a special apparatus that functions in establishing a cell plate in dividing plant cells. It is known that microfilaments (MFs) are involved in constituting phragmoplast structure, but the dynamic distribution and role of phragmoplast MFs are far from being understood. In this study, the precise structure and dynamics of MFs during the initiation and the late lateral expansion of the phragmoplast were observed by using a tobacco BY-2 cell line stably expressing the microfilament reporter construct GFP-fABD2. Three-dimensional imaging showed that the phragmoplast MFs were initiated by two populations of MFs emerging between the reconstituting daughter nuclei at anaphase, which migrated to the mid-zone and gave rise to two layers of microfilament arrays. FM4-64 stained vesicles accumulated and fused with the cell plate between the two populations of MFs. The two layers of microfilament arrays of phragmoplast with ends overlapped always surrounded the centrifugally expanding cell plate. Partial disruption of MFs at metaphase by low concentration of latrunculin B resulted in the inhibition of the cell plate consolidation and the blockage of cell plate lateral expansion, whereas high concentration of latrunculin B restrained the progression of the cell cycle. Treating the cell after the initiation of phragmoplast led to the cease of the expansion of the cell plate. Our observations provide new insights into the precise structure and dynamics of phragmoplast MFs during cytokinesis and suggest that dynamic phragmoplast MFs are important in cell plate formation. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 30630005, 30470176) and National Key Basic Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2006CB100100, 2007CB108700)