Quantitative Live Confocal Imaging in Aquilegia Floral Meristems

Ya Min; Stephanie J Conway; Elena M Kramer

doi:10.21769/BioProtoc.4449

Quantitative Live Confocal Imaging in Aquilegia Floral Meristems

Bio Protoc. 2022 Jun 20;12(12):e4449. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.4449.

Authors

Ya Min¹, Stephanie J Conway¹, Elena M Kramer¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA, USA.

Abstract

In this study, we present a detailed protocol for live imaging and quantitative analysis of floral meristem development in Aquilegia coerulea, a member of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). Using confocal microscopy and the image analysis software MorphoGraphX, we were able to examine the cellular growth dynamics during floral organ primordia initiation, and the transition from floral meristem proliferation to termination. This protocol provides a powerful tool to study the development of the meristem and floral organ primordia, and should be easily adaptable to many plant lineages, including other emerging model systems. It will allow researchers to explore questions outside the scope of common model systems.

Keywords: Aquilegia; Confocal imaging; Floral meristem; Live imaging; MorphoGraphX.