Divide and conquer: cytokinesis in plant cells

Plant cells divide in two by constructing a new cell wall (cell plate) betw een daughter nuclei after mitosis. Golgi-derived vesicles are transported t o the equator of a cytoskeletal structure called a phragmoplast, where they fuse together to form the cell plate. Orientation of new cell walls involv es actin-dependent guidance of phragmoplasts and associated cell plates to cortical sites established prior to mitosis. Recent work has provided new i nsights into how actin filaments and other proteins in the phragmoplast and cell plate contribute to cytokinesis, Newly discovered mutations have iden tified a variety of genes required for cytokinesis or its spatial regulatio n.