AbstractChanges in microtubule organization were monitored in the stomatal complexes ofAvena sativausing tubulin immunocytochemistry. Radial arrays of cortical microtubules, previously thought to be characteristic of guard cells, also appear in adjacent subsidiary cells early in development. The subsidiary cell arrays are evident even before guard cells form via division of precursor guard mother cells. Thus, before the stomatal pore opens between sister guard cells, each complex contains four similar microtubule arrays. As the pore opens, however, the subsidiary cell system is reorganized into a network of microtubules distributed along the length of the cell. A similar change is effected in the guard cells after the pore opens. Subsidiary cells and guard cells elongate during later stages of differentiation, and a thickened wall is deposited int he narrow midzone of the latter. At the same time, microtubules in both cells assume a more axial orientation. The results are discussed in terms of developmental symmetry and the control of microtubule organization and cell wall deposition.
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