A ClearSee-Based Clearing Protocol for 3D Visualization of <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> Embryos

Tissue clearing methods combined with confocal microscopy have been widely used for studying developmental biology. In plants, ClearSee is a reliable clearing method that is applicable to a wide range of tissues and is suitable for gene expression analysis using fluorescent reporters, but its applic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ayame Imoto, Mizuki Yamada, Takumi Sakamoto, Airi Okuyama, Takashi Ishida, Shinichiro Sawa, Mitsuhiro Aida
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
Series:Plants
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/2/190
Description
Summary:Tissue clearing methods combined with confocal microscopy have been widely used for studying developmental biology. In plants, ClearSee is a reliable clearing method that is applicable to a wide range of tissues and is suitable for gene expression analysis using fluorescent reporters, but its application to the <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> embryo, a model system to study morphogenesis and pattern formation, has not been described in the original literature. Here, we describe a ClearSee-based clearing protocol which is suitable for obtaining 3D images of <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> embryos. The method consists of embryo dissection, fixation, washing, clearing, and cell wall staining and enables high-quality 3D imaging of embryo morphology and expression of fluorescent reporters with the cellular resolution. Our protocol provides a reliable method that is applicable to the analysis of morphogenesis and gene expression patterns in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> embryos.
ISSN:2223-7747