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(a) The center of a Nitella cell is filled with a single large water-filled vacuole, which is surrounded by a layer of moving cytoplasm (indicated by blue arrows). A nonmoving layer of cortical cytoplasm filled with chloroplasts lies just under the plasma membrane (enlarged lower figure). On the inner side of this layer are bundles of stationary actin filaments (red), all oriented with the same polarity. A myosinlike motor protein (blue dots) carries portions of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) along the actin filaments. The movement of the ER network propels the entire viscous cytoplasm, including organelles that are enmeshed in the ER network. (b) An electron micrograph of the cortical cytoplasm shows a large vesicle connected to an underlying bundle of actin filaments. This vesicle, which is part of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) network, contacts the stationary actin filaments and moves along them by a myosinlike motor. [Part (b) from B. Kachar.]