Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 30, 2026

Imaging Spatial Reorganization of a MAPK Signaling Pathway Using the Tobacco Transient Expression System
Published on: March 20, 2016
Control of plant cytokinesis by an NPK1-mediated mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade
Takashi Soyano1, Masaki Ishikawa, Ryuichi Nishihama
1Laboratory of Developmental Biology, Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
Abstract:
Cytokinesis is the last essential step in the distribution of genetic information to daughter cells and partition of the cytoplasm. In plant cells, various proteins have been found in the phragmoplast, which corresponds to the cytokinetic apparatus, and in the cell plate, which corresponds to a new cross wall, but our understanding of the functions of these proteins in cytokinesis remains incomplete. Reverse genetic analysis of NPK1 MAPKKK (nucleus- and phragmoplast-localized protein kinase 1 mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase) and investigations of factors that might be functionally related to NPK1 have helped to clarify new aspects of the mechanisms of cytokinesis in plant cells. In this review, we summarize the evidence for the involvement of NPK1 in cytokinesis. We also describe the characteristics of a kinesin-like protein and the homologue of a mitogen-activated protein kinase that we identified recently, and we discuss possible relationships among these proteins in cytokinesis.
Related Concept Videos
M-Cdk Drives Transition Into Mitosis
Cyclin-dependent kinases, or Cdks, work in concert with cyclins to control cell cycle transitions. M-Cdk, a complex of Cdk1 bound to M cyclin, is a well-known example of this coordinated control that drives the transition from the G2 to the M phase.
M cyclin...
M-Cdk Drives Transition Into Mitosis
Cyclin-dependent kinases, or Cdks, work in concert with cyclins to control cell cycle transitions. M-Cdk, a complex of Cdk1 bound to M cyclin, is a well-known example of this coordinated control that drives the transition from the G2 to the M phase.
M cyclin...
Mitogens and the Cell Cycle
MAPK Signaling Cascades
The Spindle Assembly Checkpoint
Many proteins function together to control the spindle assembly checkpoint. Mutations affecting these proteins may allow cells to proceed into anaphase prematurely, resulting in the...
Separation of Sister Chromatids
At the onset of anaphase, separase, a proteolytic enzyme, is...

