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Originally published in Science Express on 20 April 2006
Science 9 June 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5779, pp. 1491 - 1495
DOI: 10.1126/science.1126551
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Research Articles

Visualization of Cellulose Synthase Demonstrates Functional Association with Microtubules

Alexander R. Paredez,1,2 Christopher R. Somerville,1,2 David W. Ehrhardt2*

Expression of a functional yellow fluorescent protein fusion to cellulose synthase (CESA) in transgenic Arabidopsis plants allowed the process of cellulose deposition to be visualized in living cells. Spinning disk confocal microscopy revealed that CESA complexes in the plasma membrane moved at constant rates in linear tracks that were aligned and were coincident with cortical microtubules. Within each observed linear track, complex movement was bidirectional. Inhibition of microtubule polymerization changed the fine-scale distribution and pattern of moving CESA complexes in the membrane, indicating a relatively direct mechanism for guidance of cellulose deposition by the cytoskeleton.

1 Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
2 Carnegie Institution, Department of Plant Biology, 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ehrhardt{at}stanford.edu

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