title: Some retrospectives on early studies of plant microtubules.
abstract: We pay tribute to the seminal paper 'A microtubule in plant cell fine structure' by Myron C. Ledbetter and Keith R. Porter (1963) by summarizing the very limited knowledge of plant cell ultrastructure that we had prior to that publication, and, by way of our three retrospective accounts, show how this paper stimulated and influenced subsequent research on plant microtubules. Micrographs of historical interest are presented that are either previously unpublished or from primary publications.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 00103, USA.
authors.forename: Peter K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Hepler
authors.forename: Jeremy D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Pickett-Heaps
authors.forename: Brian E S
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Gunning
mesh_terms: D029624:Ferns / Q000166:cytology; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008870:Microtubules / Q000648:ultrastructure; D059828:Plant Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D012106:Research; D008941:Spindle Apparatus
keywords: glutaraldehyde; microtubule; microtubule organizing center; mitotic spindle; phragmoplast; preprophase band