Cellular dynamics and molecular signaling networks of plant cytokinesis

TL;DR

This review explores how plant cells divide, focusing on the unique structures and shared mechanisms with animal cells during the final stage of cell division.

Contribution

The paper integrates recent findings to provide a comprehensive view of plant cytokinesis and its regulatory networks.

Findings

Plant and animal cells share similarities in division plane determination and vesicle trafficking.

The phragmoplast guides cell plate formation in plant cells through conserved proteins and regulatory networks.

Recent advances have revealed the role of post-translational modifications in controlling plant cytokinesis.

Abstract

Cytokinesis, the final stage of cell division, physically partitions the cytoplasm between daughter cells through mechanisms evolved to accommodate unique cellular constraints. Plant cells divide by the formation of rigid cell walls using the phragmoplast—a specialized structure guiding centrifugal cell plate formation from the cell center outward. Despite structural differences from the animal contractile ring mechanism, plant and animal cytokinesis share fundamental similarities in division plane determination, vesicle trafficking, and conserved proteins, including kinesins and microtubule-associated proteins. This conservation alongside kingdom-specific adaptations makes plant cytokinesis an excellent model for understanding evolutionary divergence. Recent technological advances have enabled detailed characterization of molecular components and regulatory networks controlling spatiotemporal progression through post translational modifications. In this review, we provide an integrated perspective of plant cytokinesis, examining cellular dynamics from division plane determination to cell plate maturation, molecular machinery driving these processes, and kinase-mediated regulatory networks ensuring precise coordination of this complex process.

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