Plant cells are fixed with regards to their neighbor cells within the
tissues they are growing in. In contrast to animals where certain cells can migrate within the
embryo to form new tissues, the seedlings of higher plants grow entirely based on the orientation of
cell division and subsequent elongation and differentiation of cells within their
cell walls. Therefore, the accurate control of cell division planes and placement of the future cell wall in plant cells is crucial for the correct architecture of plant tissues and organs. The preprophase stage of
somatic plant cell mitosis serves to establish the precise location of the division plane and future cell wall before the cell enters
prophase. This is achieved through the formation of a transient microtubule structure, the preprophase band, and a so far unknown mechanism by which the cell is able to "memorize" the position of the preprophase band to guide the new cell wall growing during
cytokinesis to the correct location. In
gametophyte tissues during the reproductive phase of the plant
life cycle, cell division planes may be established without the use of a preprophase band. In highly vacuolated plant cells, preprophase may be preceded by the formation of a
phragmosome. The function of the phragmosome is to suspend the
cell nucleus in the center of the cell in preparation for mitosis. If a phragmosome is visible, the preprophase band will appear at its outer edge. ==Preprophase band formation==