Roles for kinesin and myosin during cytokinesis

Cytokinesis in higher plants involves the phragmoplast, a complex cytoplasmic structure that consists of microtubules (MTs), microfilaments (MFs) and membrane elements. Both MTs and MFs are essential for cell plate formation, although it is not clear which motor proteins are involved. Some candidate processes for motor proteins include transport of Golgi vesicles to the plane of the cell plate and the spatiotemporal organization of the cytoskeletal elements in order to achieve proper deposition and alignment of the cell plate. We have focused on the kinesin–like calmodulin binding protein (KCBP) and, more broadly, on myosins. Using an antibody that constitutively activates KCBP, we find that this MT motor, which is minus–end directed, contributes to the organization of the spindle and phragmoplast MTs. It does not participate in vesicle transport; rather, because of the orientation of the phragmoplast MTs, it is supposed that plus–end kinesins fill this role. Myosins, on the other hand, based on their inhibition with 2,3–butanedione monoxime and 1–(5–iodonaphthalene–1–sulphonyl)–1H–hexahydro–1,4–diazepine (ML–7), are associated with the process of post–mitotic spindle/phragmoplast alignment and with late lateral expansion of the cell plate. They are also not the principal motors involved in vesicle transport.