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It is well established that microtubule orientations undergo dynamic changes during the transition from isotropic to anisotropic cell expansion. Timely establishment of cortical microtubule array in a transverse orientation along the elongation axis is believed to be essential for normal cell elongation. However, the molecular mechanisms regulating the assembly and disassembly of microtubules during cell elongation are not known. On pages 807­827 of this issue, Burk et al. demonstrate that the Arabidopsis AtKTN1 gene, which encodes a katanin-like protein involved in microtubule severing, is essential for normal cell elongation and cell wall biosynthesis. AtKTN1 is apparently involved in the disassembly of perinuclear microtubule array, which is important for the timely establishment of transverse cortical microtubule array in elongating cells. It is hypothesized that AtKTN1 plays an important role in regulating the dynamic changes of microtubules during initiation and subsequent proceeding of cell elongation. The cover image shows compact root hair cells in the fra2 mutant, due to shortening of root epidermal cells