Myosin and actin steer plant cell division

What is it about?

For decades it was known that both microtubules and actin filaments are found in the division machinery in plants. While microtubules are essential, actin’s role remained enigmatic. We show that the actin-based molecular motor, myosin VIII, associates with microtubule ends and mediates movement along actin filaments to steer cell division. Since myosin VIII behaves similarly in moss and tobacco, we suggest that myosin VIII function is conserved throughout plant evolution.

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Why is it important?

This study has answered and provided significant mechanistic insights into long-standing questions in cell biology. Our work also suggests that myosin-mediated cross talk between actin and microtubules may be a universal mechanism, possibly evolving early in the eukaryotic lineage and harnessed to drive disparate cellular processes throughout eukaryotes.