Plant microtubule studies: past and present

Here, I briefly review historical and morphological aspects of plant microtubule studies in land plants. Microtubules are formed from tubulins, and the polymeric configurations appear as singlet, doublet, and triplet microtubules. Doublet microtubules occur in the axoneme of cilia and flagella, and triplet microtubules occur in the basal bodies and centrosomes. Doublet and triplet microtubules are lost in all angiosperms and some gymnosperms that do not possess flagellated sperm. In land plants with flagellated sperm, centriolar centrosomes transform into basal bodies during spermatogenesis. In flowering plants, however, most male gametes (sperm) are conveyed to eggs without the benefit of cilia or flagella; thus, higher plants lack centriolar centrosome and doublet and triplet microtubules. The loss of centriolar centrosomes from the life cycle of flowering plants may have influenced the evolution of the plant microtubule system. Comparison of mitotic apparatuses in basal land plants and flowering plants illuminates the evolutionary transition from the centriolar microtubule system to the acentriolar microtubule system.