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Visualization of Plant Microtubules

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Abstract

Microtubules (MTs) are highly dynamic components of the cell cytoskeleton that are involved in many important processes such as cell division (chromosome movement, formation of preprophase band, phragmoplast, cortical band before preprophase, etc.), cellular transport (endocytosis, exocytosis, organelle movement: nuclei, chloroplasts, amyloplasts, etc.), and growth and differentiation (transport of cellulose precursors to the cell wall to form cellulose microfibrils, transition from division to expansion, stomata movement, etc.). Studying these cytoskeleton components is not only useful for understanding the mechanisms of cellular organization, but for understanding the response of cells to different stimuli that are known to change the microtubule array configuration. The knowledge of the microtubule dynamics opens the door to novel technical applications.

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Acknowledgments

The implementation of these techniques was possible thanks to the invaluable assistance of Inés Pazos and Jesús Méndez from the Central Research Services (CACTI) of the University of Vigo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Ecophysiology Laboratory, Department of Plant Biology and Soil Science, University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain

    Elisa Graña

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  1. Elisa Graña
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Correspondence to Elisa Graña .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biology and Soil Science, University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain

    Adela M. Sánchez-Moreiras

  2. Department of Plant Biology and Soil Science, University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain

    Manuel J. Reigosa

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Graña, E. (2018). Visualization of Plant Microtubules. In: Sánchez-Moreiras, A., Reigosa, M. (eds) Advances in Plant Ecophysiology Techniques. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93233-0_17

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