A three-dimensional computer simulation model reveals the mechanisms for self-organization of plant cortical microtubules into oblique arrays.

ABSTRACT: The noncentrosomal cortical microtubules (CMTs) of plant cells self-organize into a parallel three-dimensional (3D) array that is oriented transverse to the cell elongation axis in wild-type plants and is oblique in some of the mutants that show twisted growth. To study the mechanisms of CMT array organization, we developed a 3D computer simulation model based on experimentally observed properties of CMTs. Our computer model accurately mimics transverse array organization and other fundamental properties of CMTs observed in rapidly elongating wild-type cells as well as the defective CMT phenotypes observed in the Arabidopsis mor1-1 and fra2 mutants. We found that CMT interactions, boundary conditions, and the bundling cutoff angle impact the rate and extent of CMT organization, whereas bra

SUBMITTER: Eren EC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2912353 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature