title: Embedding thin plant specimens for oriented sectioning.
abstract: Small plant structures such as small primary roots, filamentous mosses and algae are difficult to orient for sectioning since they become wavy and curl during embedding. A method is described for embedding and orienting tiny plant specimens in a glycol methacrylate resin using self-constructed flat molds. Prior to sectioning, small samples can be oriented in both the longitudinal and the transverse plane. As several samples can be sectioned simultaneously, time-consuming trimming of the blocks is reduced substantially. The efficiency of this technique has been demonstrated using the tiny roots of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Flanders Interuniversitary Institute for Biotechnology, University of Gent, Belgium. tobee@gengenp.rug.ac.be
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Beeckman
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Viane
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006652:Histological Techniques; D016613:Plastic Embedding / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; C053012:Technovit 7100