image:Phycoplast.png, Schematic representation of types of cytokinesis in the green algae: 1) Phycoplast formation with cleavage furrow (e.g. ''Chlamydomonas''); 2) Cleavage furrow and persistent telophase spindle (e.g. ''Klebsormidium''); 3) Phycoplast and cell plate formation (e.g. ''Fritschiella''); 4) Persistent telophase spindle/phragmoplast with cell plate formation (e.g. ''Coleochaete'') The phycoplast is a microtubule structure observed during

cytokinesis Cytokinesis () is the part of the cell division process and part of mitosis during which the cytoplasm of a single eukaryotic cell divides into two daughter cells. Cytoplasmic division begins during or after the late stages of nuclear division ...

in members of the '' Chlorophytina'', the largest and most well known subphylum of chlorophyte green algae. Cytokinesis in green algae occurs via a diverse range of mechanisms, including

cleavage furrow In cell biology, the cleavage furrow is the indentation of the cell's surface that begins the progression of cleavage, by which animal and some algal cells undergo cytokinesis, the final splitting of the membrane, in the process of cell divisio ...

s in some algae and cell plates in others. Plants (= Chloroplastida) of the clade '' Phragmoplastophyta'' (a subgroup of

charophytes Charophyta () is a Paraphyly, paraphyletic group of freshwater green algae, called charophytes (), sometimes treated as a Division (taxonomy), division, yet also as a Division (taxonomy), superdivision. The terrestrial plants, the Embryophyta em ...

which includes the

land plants The embryophytes () are a clade of plants, also known as Embryophyta (Plantae ''sensu strictissimo'') () or land plants. They are the most familiar group of photoautotrophs that make up the vegetation on Earth's dry lands and wetlands. Embryophy ...

, desmids, water silk, stoneworts etc.) use structures called phragmoplasts to organize and guide the growing cell plate. In these plants, the microtubules of the

telophase Telophase () is the final stage in both meiosis and mitosis in a eukaryotic cell. During telophase, the effects of prophase and prometaphase (the nucleolus and nuclear membrane disintegrating) are reversed. As chromosomes reach the cell poles, ...

spindle give rise to the phragmoplast and are oriented perpendicular to the plane of cell division and the forming cell plate. The growth of the cell plate eventually disrupts the telophase spindle (see case 4 in picture). In the ''

Chlorophyceae The Chlorophyceae, also known as chlorophycean algae, are one of the classes of green algae, within the phylum Chlorophyta. They are a large assemblage of mostly freshwater and terrestrial organisms; many members are important primary producers i ...

'', the most common form of cell division occurs via a phycoplast. In these algae, the spindle collapses and a new system of microtubules forms that is oriented in parallel to the plane of cell division. This phycoplast can be observed in algae undergoing cytokinesis via cleavage furrow (case 1 in picture) as well as algae utilizing a cell plate (case 3 in picture). The phycoplast may play a role in assuring that the plane of cell division will pass between the two daughter nuclei. Typically, these algae undergo "closed"

mitosis Mitosis () is a part of the cell cycle in eukaryote, eukaryotic cells in which replicated chromosomes are separated into two new Cell nucleus, nuclei. Cell division by mitosis is an equational division which gives rise to genetically identic ...

where the

nuclear envelope The nuclear envelope, also known as the nuclear membrane, is made up of two lipid bilayer membranes that in eukaryotic cells surround the nucleus, which encloses the genetic material. The nuclear envelope consists of two lipid bilayer membran ...

persists throughout mitosis.

References

*P.H. Raven, R.F. Evert, S.E. Eichhorn (2005): ''Biology of Plants'', 7th Edition, W.H. Freeman and Company Publishers, New York, {{Protist structures Cell cycle Mitosis Plant cells