How do microtubules regulate plant growth and development

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Plants come in a myriad of sizes and shapes.  They are also rooted in one spot and cannot move in response to changes in the surrounding environment.  My research program focuses on understanding how plants control the growth of roots, stems, flowers, and leaves, both in response to environmental stimuli and to form the diversity of shapes that we see in nature.  The cells that make up the body of a plant are held together in one place; this means that the shape of a root, leaf, or flower petal is determined by controlling the directions in which cells divide and expand.  How, then, are the directions of cell division and cell expansion controlled?  Inside of cells there is a system of long, thin, tubular shaped filaments that are crucial for controlling cell division and cell expansion.  These filaments, called microtubules, are dynamic in nature; they are constantly lengthening, shortening, and rearranging into different configurations within the cell.  My lab investigates how microtubule behavior is regulated and how this regulation, in turn, effects changes in plant growth.  Microtubule behavior is controlled by a fleet of proteins that associate with microtubules and modify their activities and arrangements within cells.  We are currently studying a family of proteins that associate with microtubules and regulate root growth.  The proteins belong to the  END BINDING 1 (or EB1) family, and plants carrying mutations in EB1 genes have roots that do not form normal bends as they grow.  Instead of growing down, mutant roots skew to the left and grow in loops and coils, as if they are bending more than they should.  The ability to control bending is imperative for the root as it navigates around rocks and other impediments in the soil, and we are investigating how EB1 activity is regulated and how this regulation controls microtubules and root bending.