THE ROLE OF THE CYTOSKELETON IN PLANT CELL GRAVISENSITIVITY

摘要

This chapter highlights current ideas on the role of the cyto-skeleton in plant cell gravisensing. It is important to distinguish between cell graviperception and cell gravisensing. The first implies the active perception of a gravitational stimulus by cells which are specialized for gravity perception, and the second refers to cell structure and stability in the gravitational field and their changes in response to microgravity. Special attention is given to the rearrangements of actin microfilaments and tubulin microtubules in multicellular organs as well as in the tip-growing plant cells experiencing microgravity, under clinorotation and gravistimulation. It is assumed that the cytoskeleton takes part both in plant cell graviperception and gravisensing and helps to provide growth stability for plants. The perspectives of cytoskeleton research are outlined.