phragmoplast The region between the daughter nuclei of a dividing plant cell. At first it contains only microtubules, but it develops into a barrel-shaped organ with microtubules, Golgi apparatus, ribosomes, and endoplasmic reticulum. It assembles the cell plate which functions in cytokinesis.

phragmoplast A barrel-shaped array of short microtubules that organizes formation of the cell plate in dividing plant cells. The phragmoplast is orientated parallel to the mitotic spindle and accumulates vesicles in the plane of the metaphase equator, midway between the daughter nuclei. The vesicles fuse, and their components form the new plasma membranes and cell walls of the daughter cells. Compare phycoplast.