Discussion
Together, these markers provide a robust suite of tools to examine subcellular trafficking and organellar organization during mitosis and cell plate formation in maize.
Methods
Here we use live-cell markers to track the dynamic reorganization of microtubules, nuclei, endoplasmic reticulum, and endomembrane compartments during division and the formation of the cell plate in maize leaf epidermal cells.
Results
The microtubule plus-end localized protein END BINDING1 (EB1) highlighted increasing microtubule dynamicity during mitosis to support rapid changes in microtubule structures. The localization of the cell-plate specific syntaxin KNOLLE, several RAB-GTPases, as well as two plasma membrane localized proteins was assessed after treatment with the cytokinesis-specific callose-deposition inhibitor Endosidin7 (ES7) and the microtubule-disrupting herbicide chlorpropham (CIPC). While ES7 caused cell plate defects in Arabidopsis thaliana, it did not alter callose accumulation, or disrupt cell plate formation in maize. In contrast, CIPC treatment of maize epidermal cells occasionally produced irregular cell plates that split or fragmented, but did not otherwise disrupt the accumulation of cell-plate localized proteins.