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-Tubulin Is Essential for Microtubule Organization and Development in Arabidopsis^[W]

^a Station de Génétique et d'Amélioration des Plantes, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 78026 Versailles Cedex, France
^b Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France

² To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail pastugli{at}versailles.inra.fr; fax 33-130-83-3319.

The process of microtubule nucleation in plant cells is still a major question in plant cell biology. -Tubulin is known as one of the key molecular players for microtubule nucleation in animal and fungal cells. Here, we provide genetic evidence that in Arabidopsis thaliana, -tubulin is required for the formation of spindle, phragmoplast, and cortical microtubule arrays. We used a reverse genetics approach to investigate the role of the two Arabidopsis -tubulin genes in plant development and in the formation of microtubule arrays. Isolation of mutants in each gene and analysis of two combinations of -tubulin double mutants showed that the two genes have redundant functions. The first combination is lethal at the gametophytic stage. Disruption of both -tubulin genes causes aberrant spindle and phragmoplast structures and alters nuclear division in gametophytes. The second combination of -tubulin alleles affects late seedling development, ultimately leading to lethality 3 weeks after germination. This partially viable mutant combination enabled us to follow dynamically the effects of -tubulin depletion on microtubule arrays in dividing cells using a green fluorescent protein marker. These results establish the central role of -tubulin in the formation and organization of microtubule arrays in Arabidopsis.

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