part of cytoplasm preprophase band Wikipedia:Preprophase_band cellular_component GO:0009574 A dense band of microtubules, 1-3 pm wide, that appears just beneath the cell membrane before the start of cell division in the cells of higher plants. It precedes the onset of prophase and then disappears as mitosis begins, yet it somehow determines the plane of orientation of the new cell plate forming in late telophase and marks the zone of the parental cell wall where fusion with the growing cell plate ultimately occurs. microtubule cytoskeleton cellular anatomical structure