Cytoskeleton-related proteins in tobacco mycorrhizal cells: gamma-tubulin and clathrin localisation.

Plant cytoskeletal components respond to the penetration of both pathogenic and symbiotic fungi with a new organization of microtubules and microfilaments. To determine the origin and potential role of microtubule arrays previously observed in tobacco cells colonised by an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, we have investigated the patterns of gamma-tubulin and clathrin in uninfected and mycorrhizal cells with immunofluorescence techniques. Antibody against gamma-tubulin revealed microtubule organising centers (MTOC) along the nuclear envelope and along the host membrane that surrounds the plant/fungus interface, while clathrin was observed along the peripheral and perifungal membranes, as well as along a tubular system of endomembranes.