About the Cover
Despite the stagnant image invoked by its name, the cytoskeleton contributes to the dynamism of the eukaryotic cell by participating actively in aspects of cellular growth, differentiation, motility, and macromolecular trafficking. In plants such as Arabidopsis, the role of the cytoskeleton in cell growth has been assessed in a variety of genetic and molecular studies of the protruding unicellular trichomes that develop from epidermal cells. On pages 465 477, Mathur and Chua employ an elegant system to follow the transformations that take place in the microtubular component of the cytoskeleton during trichome development. By creating transgenic Arabidopsis plants that express microtubule-associated protein 4 (MAP4) fused to the green fluorescent protein (GFP), the authors are able to visualize the microtubular arrays of living trichomes in a noninvasive manner. On the cover, the cortical microtubule arrays are evident in the branched trichomes of transgenic Arabidopsis plants that carry the GFP-MAP4 chimeric gene. The visual inspection of wild-type and mutant trichomes in the presence and absence of drugs that affect the polymerization of tubulin allows the authors to discuss trichome branching in terms of microtubular reorientation and growth.
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Copyright © 2007 by the American Society of Plant Biologists
