Nuclear migration in Arabidopsis root hairs is bidirectional and relies on actin filaments. However, how actin filaments regulate the bidirectional movement of nuclei remains unclear. Here, we discovered that nuclei migrate forward and backward according to the developmental stage of the hair cells. In addition, the migration direction of nuclei was not constant but reversed occasionally, accompanied by nuclear shape changes. Confocal microscopic analysis revealed that perinuclear actin bundles were closely related to the migration and shape of hair cell nuclei. Pharmacological studies showed that SMIFH2, an inhibitor of the actin nucleator-formin, inhibited nuclear backward migration probably by impairing the perinuclear actin filaments. These data indicate that nuclear migration in hair cells is likely motivated by the competition of mechanical forces acting on the nucleus. Furthermore, the perinuclear actin filaments are closely related to the migration direction of hair cell nuclei. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Inc.