A new technique to prepare hard fruits and seeds for anatomical studies.
OBJECTIVE
A novel preparation technique was developed to examine fruits and seeds of plants with exceptionally hard or brittle tissues that are very difficult to prepare using standard histological techniques.


RESULTS
The method introduced here was modified from a technique employed on fossil material and has been adapted for use on fruits and seeds of extant plants. A variety of fruits and seeds have been prepared with great success, and the technique will be useful for any excessively hard fruits or seeds that are not able to be prepared using traditional embedding or sectioning methods.


CONCLUSIONS
When compared to existing techniques for obtaining anatomical features of fruits and seeds, the protocol described here has the potential to create high-quality thin sections of materials that are not able to be sectioned using traditional histological techniques, which can be produced quickly and without the need for harmful chemicals.
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, 2534 CC Little Building, 1100 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1005 USA.
John C
JC
Benedict
anatomy; fibers; microtomy; sclereids; thin sectioning; wafering