title: Imaging early stages of the female reproductive structure of Arabidopsis by confocal laser scanning microscopy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The gynoecium is the female reproductive structure and probably the most complex plant structure. During its development, different internal tissues and structures are formed. Insights in gene expression or hormone localization patterns are key to understanding gynoecium development from a molecular biology point of view.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Imaging with a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) is a widely used strategy; however, visualization of internal developmental expression patterns in the Arabidopsis gynoecium can be technically challenging. Here, we present a detailed protocol that allows the visualization of internal expression patterns at high resolution during gynoecium development. We demonstrate the applicability using a cytokinin response marker (TCS::GFP), an auxin response marker (DR5::VENUS), and a SEPALLATA3 marker (SEP3::SEP3:GFP).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The detailed protocol presented here allows the visualization of fluorescence signals in internal structures during Arabidopsis gynoecium development. This protocol may also be adapted for imaging other challenging plant structures or organs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (LANGEBIO), Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Irapuato, Guanajuato, México.
authors.forename: J Irepan
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Reyes-Olalde
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioquímica, CINVESTAV-IPN, Irapuato, Guanajuato, México.
authors.forename: Nayelli
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marsch-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (LANGEBIO), Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Irapuato, Guanajuato, México.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Folter
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D015509:Developmental Biology / Q000379:methods*; D035264:Flowers / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Arabidopsis; Gynoecium; SEPALLATA3; auxin; confocal laser scanning microscopy; cytokinin; expression pattern; fluorescence signal