Cytoskeletal and Vacuolar Dynamics During Plant Cell Division 135
Fig. 3 Three-dimensional (3-D) surface models of vacuoles. The 3-D models are recon-
structed from a series of confocal sections.AIn the G2 phase, the large vacuoles are
penetrated by thick cytoplasmic strands near the central region of the cell.BIn prophase,
the TVMs begin to elongate from the smaller compartments of the large vacuole.CIn
metaphase, the TVMs connect the two divided large vacuoles.DIn telophase, the TVMs
are cut off by the developing cell plate. The division plane is represented by thewhite
lineinD- 1. To clearly visualize the TVMs, the large vacuoles are rendered transparent in
panelsB,CandD- 2 .Bar: 10 μm
development of new software for analyzing the respective images obtained
by microscopy.
Although both of these techniques are expected to be applicable to other
intra-structural analyses, the use of fluorescent proteins requires several
points to be carefully considered. First, the fusion proteins may, because of
the fused fluorescent protein, produce aberrant internal structures. Second,
the fusion proteins may not always label the complete structures of interest.
Third, because of the lack of appropriate plant specific promoters, and the
consequent use of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter, the effects of
constitutive expression of the target proteins should be carefully considered.
Despite these possible limitations, we consider the techniques introduced
here will provide new insights into plant intracellular structures and will be
useful tools for analyzing various cellular events in higher plant and animal
cells.
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