204 A. Nebenführ
hair cells depends on the acto-myosin system (Molchan et al. 2002). Current
data seem to suggest that both effects occur at the same time (Sheahan et al.
2004). However, a detailed spatio-temporal analysis of organelle distributions
in actively dividing cells in the presence and absence of latrunculin B will be
required to determine their relative contributions.
4
Outlook
Progress in recent years has demonstrated that many organelles assume non-
random positions during cell division in a wide variety of plant cells. These
specific accumulations indicate that these organelles are performing specific
functions at these positions, which in some cases has led to new insights
in the process of cell division. For example, the proximity of peroxisomes,
multivesicular bodies, and vacuolar elements near the forming cell plate has
resulted in new hypotheses that can now be tested experimentally. More re-
search will also be necessary to elucidate the mechanisms that mediate this
organelle positioning. In particular, precise surgical interventions will be re-
quired since the wholesale disruption of all MTs or all actin filaments have
often proven too crude to identify specific localization mechanisms. Know-
ledge of these mechanisms then should allow us to disrupt positioning of
specific organelles which in turn will directly address the function of these
organelles during cell division.
AcknowledgementsResearch in my lab is supported by the National Science Foundation,
grant MCB-0416931.
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