发布: 2018年09月20日第8卷第18期 DOI: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3010 浏览次数: 10763
评审: Tie LiuJonathan GilkersonArun Shunmugam
Abstract
This protocol provides a detailed description of how to fabricate and use the dual-flow-RootChip (dfRootChip), a novel microfluidic platform for investigating root nutrition, root-microbe interactions and signaling and development in controlled asymmetric conditions. The dfRootChip was developed primarily to investigate how plants roots interact with their environment by simulating environmental heterogeneity. The goal of this protocol is to provide a detailed resource for researchers in the biological sciences wishing to employ the dfRootChip in particular, or microfluidic devices in general, in their laboratory.
Keywords: Dual-flow-RootChip (Dual-flow-RootChip)Background
Conditions belowground are highly heterogeneous and dynamic, hence plant roots are exposed to various stimuli and consequently have to adapt to this complex environment. Despite the importance of these developmental adaptations, the underlying mechanisms still remain to be elucidated. Microfluidic devices have proven useful to cultivate specimens in controlled microenvironments and facilitate access for live imaging of dynamic processes from the subcellular to the organismic level (Crane et al., 2010). Thanks to the possibilities of microfluidics to manipulate small fluid volumes in a controlled manner, conduct experiments in high-throughput, extract quantitative information and perform time-lapse measurements, microfluidic devices have found their way into organismal studies. For the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, a series of microfluidic devices have been developed that enable the monitoring of gene expression during root development (Busch et al., 2012), signaling events (Keinath et al., 2015) and sensor-based imaging of nutrient uptake (Grossmann et al., 2011; Lanquar et al., 2014). Additionally, more recent advances using microfluidic platforms have included high-resolution phenotyping (Jiang et al., 2014; Xing et al., 2017) and the investigation of root-microbe interactions (Parashar and Pandey, 2011; Massalha et al., 2017). While the root microenvironment can be precisely controlled in these perfusion devices, environmental complexity, a hallmark of natural root environments, was challenging to simulate (Stanley et al., 2016; Stanley and van der Heijden, 2017). The dfRootChip was therefore developed to enable the study of single Arabidopsis roots in asymmetric microenvironments at the cellular level to investigate gene expression, signaling and development (Stanley et al., 2018). Importantly, the dfRootChip can be implemented in a range of applications, which include performing localized treatments with drugs, differential nutrient or stress conditions, probing host-microbe interactions (e.g., pathogenic and beneficial interactions, potential biocontrol agents), and investigating root physiology and root hair development.
The current protocol was developed to provide fundamental know-how to researchers wishing to implement this platform. This protocol therefore provides a detailed explanation of how to fabricate the dfRootChip, using photo- and soft lithography, and how to cultivate Arabidopsis seedlings within the dfRootChip. Due to the wide applicability of microfluidics in biology, a number of steps in this protocol will also aid the fabrication and handling of other device designs. Furthermore, this protocol illustrates how the dfRootChip can be utilized in three different experimental settings. Specifically, we highlight how to perform (i) symmetric and asymmetric root treatments over longer time-periods (hours to days), (ii) localized inoculation of plant roots with bacteria and (iii) rapid asymmetric treatments with the dfRootChip. We exemplify these applications by utilizing different phosphate treatments, the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens and a calcium elicitor treatment respectively.
Materials and Reagents
Note: Catalog numbers are provided for commercial, non-custom-made products (see Note 1).
Equipment
Software
Procedure
登录 / 注册后阅读全文
文章信息
版权信息
© 2018 The Authors; exclusive licensee Bio-protocol LLC.
如何引用
Stanley, C. E., Shrivastava, J., Brugman, R., Heinzelmann, E., Frajs, V., Bühler, A., van Swaay, D. and Grossmann, G. (2018). Fabrication and Use of the Dual-Flow-RootChip for the Imaging of Arabidopsis Roots in Asymmetric Microenvironments. Bio-protocol 8(18): e3010. DOI: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3010.
分类
植物科学 > 植物生理学 > 营养
植物科学 > 植物发育生物学 > 形态建成
细胞生物学 > 细胞成像 > 微流体
您对这篇实验方案有问题吗?
在此处发布您的问题,我们将邀请本文作者来回答。同时,我们会将您的问题发布到Bio-protocol Exchange,以便寻求社区成员的帮助。
Share
Bluesky
X
Copy link




