Abstract
This protocol is to differentially and simultaneously visualize both cells and airspaces in intact leaves and to create 3D structures of cells and airspaces from confocal images using the software DSLT_Demo (https://github.com/nslab2000/DSLT). Leaves stained with Nile Red in silicone-oil solution provide red color to cell membranes and green color to airspaces filled with silicone oil solution. This method is applicable to any tissues (except for dry seeds) of various plants including Arabidopsis, Nicotiana, Lemna and moss, and applicable even to hard leaves of plants such as switchgrass and Cinnamomum. Repeated use of this method enables time-lapse imaging of leaves over days and weeks because both Nile Red and silicone oil are harmless to plant tissues.
Materials and Reagents
Equipment
Procedure
Representative data
Figure 2. Visualizing cells and airspaces in an Arabidopsis thaliana leaf. Confocal images of the epidermis (left) and mesophyll (right) of an Arabidopsis thaliana leaf. The abaxial side of the leaf was stained with solution of Nile Red in silicone oil and imaged with 488 nm excitation for Nile Red in silicone oil (airspace, green) and 561 nm excitation for Nile Red in lipid (cellular membrane, magenta). Asterisks indicate airspaces. Scale bars: 50 μm. Figure 3. Time-lapse imaging of a developing Nicotiana glauca leaf. Cross-sectional views of 3D images of the adaxial side of a Nicotiana glauca leaf. Confocal images were taken over 5 days of leaf development (times indicated in white above each image). Shown is the fluorescence of Nile Red in the lipid bilayer membrane. Bar is 50 μm.
Acknowledgments
This protocol was adapted from the research article Kawase et al. (2015). The work was supported by a Specially Promoted Research of Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research to I. H. -N. (no.22000014) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
References
If you have any questions/comments about this protocol, you are highly recommended to post here. We will invite the authors of this protocol as well as some of its users to address your questions/comments. To make it easier for them to help you, you are encouraged to post your data including images for the troubleshooting.