Gamma-tubulin colocalizes with microtubule arrays and tubulin paracrystals in dividing vegetative cells of higher plants (original) (raw)

The distribution of 7-tubulin throughout cell division is studied in several taxa of higher plants. 7-Tubutin is present along the whole length of microtubules (Mts) in every cell stage-specific Mt array such as the preprophase band, the preprophase-prophase perinuclear Mts, the kinetochore Mt bundles, the phragmoplast, and the telophase-interphase transition Mt arrays, y-Tubulin follows with precision the Mt pattern, being absent from any other, Mt-free, cell site. In cells treated with anti-Mt drugs, y-tubulin is present only on degrading or on reappearing Mt arrays, while it is totally absent from cells devoid of Mts. y-Tubulin is also present in tubulin paracrystals, which are formed in colchicine-treated cells. These observations support the view that in higher plants 7-tubulin may not be a microtubule-organizing-center-specific protein, but it may play a certain structural and/or functional role being related to c~-and ~3-tubulin.