PHS1ΔP as a promising tool to study microtubule-related processes in plant sciences

Microtubules are an essential cell component that controls various biological processes, notably cell division and cellulose deposition in the cell wall. Traditionally, research involving microtubules relies on analysing mutants with altered microtubule properties or treating plant tissues with drugs that interfere with microtubule behaviours. Both approaches have problems, such as not being specific. Recently, a modified version of the tubulin kinase PROPYZAMID-HYPERSENSITIVE 1 (PHS1), named PHS1ΔP, that can efficiently depolymerize microtubules has emerged as a promising tool to manipulate microtubules with high spatial and temporal accuracy. This has been successfully used to address several microtubule-related research questions and is expected to be adopted more widely by researchers in the future.