title: Live confocal imaging of Arabidopsis flower buds.
abstract: Recent advances in confocal microscopy, coupled with the development of numerous fluorescent reporters, provide us with a powerful tool to study the development of plants. Live confocal imaging has been used extensively to further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the formation of roots, shoots and leaves. However, it has not been widely applied to flowers, partly because of specific challenges associated with the imaging of flower buds. Here, we describe how to prepare and grow shoot apices of Arabidopsis in vitro, to perform both single-point and time-lapse imaging of live, developing flower buds with either an upright or an inverted confocal microscope.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. Electronic address: nprunet@caltech.edu.
authors.forename: Nathanaël
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Prunet
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, 78 N. College St., Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Jack
authors.affiliation: Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Elliot M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Meyerowitz
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001901:Botany / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D035264:Flowers / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D056626:Inflorescence / Q000254:growth & development; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D018519:Meristem / Q000254:growth & development; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010784:Photomicrography / Q000379:methods; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000254:growth & development / Q000648:ultrastructure; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D059008:Time-Lapse Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D008164:Luminescent Proteins
keywords: Confocal microscopy; Floral organs; Flower; Flower development; Flower meristem; Live confocal imaging; Plant development; Sepals