3D image analysis of plants using electron tomography and micro-CT

Precise control of the cell division plane is a prerequisite for plant development. The division site (the position of the division plane insertion) in plant cells is the site along which the cell plate margin joins the parental cell walls. How this division site is determined and established during cell division is an essential question in plant morphogenesis. Herein we demonstrate how computer tomography techniques can aid in understanding nano-machines involved in determination of the division site and in analysing air space development after cytokinesis. The preprophase band (PPB) is a cytokinetic nano-machine used to determine the plant division site. The PPB appears as a broad microtubule (MT) band in the G2 phase and the MT band narrows during the prophase to establish the specialized belt zone in the cell cortex (cortical division zone, [CDZ]). The MT band disappears at prometaphase, but some memories remain in the CDZ throughout the process of cell division, and this is the site of attachment of the newly formed cell plate. We have examined PPB development of high-pressure frozen onion cotyledon epidermis using dual-axis electron tomography. MTs as well as actin microfilaments (MFs) and membrane systems can be preserved well by high-pressure freezing [1]. Since detection of ∼100 vesicles and ∼40 MT ends was possible in a tomogram of the PPB surface (0.25 mm × 0.25 mm) obtained from 250-nm-thick tangential sections of epidermal cells, we were able to quantitatively analyze the frequencies of various types of vesicles and MT ends in the PPB [2]. The results clearly showed that endocytosis is active [2,3] and MTs are very dynamic in the late PPB. Light microscopic studies with fluorescent probes have demonstrated that actins are among the main components of PPB. Electron tomography analysis showed that one actin configuration in the PPB is a relatively short single MFs running parallel to the plasma membrane. The actin MFs connecting two adjacent MTs help to promote MT bundling. Cell plate attachment to the parental wall leads to the fusion of the newly formed middle lamellae in the cell plate to the middle lamella of parental cell wall, and a three-way junction is created. Air space develops from the three-way junction. To determine 3D arrangement of cells and air spaces, we used X-ray micro-CT at the SPring-8 synchrotron radiation facility. Using micro-CT available in BL20XU (8 keV, 0.2 µm/pixel), we were able to elucidate ∼90% of the cortical cell outlines in the hypocotyl-radicle axis of arabidopsis seeds [4] and to analyze cell geometrical properties. As the strength of the system X-ray is too strong for seed survival, we used another beam line BL20B2 (10-15 keV, 2.4-2.7 µm/pixel) to examine air space development during seed imbibition [4,5]. Using this system, we were able to detect air space development at the early imbibition stages of seeds without causing damage during seed germination. AcknowledgmentThe author would like to thank Dr. Ichirou Karahara (Univ. Toyama), Dr. L. Andrew Staehelin (Univ. Colorado), Ms. Naoko Kajimura, Dr. Akio Takaoka (Osaka Univ.), Dr. Kazuyo Misaki, Dr. Shigenobu Yonemura (RIKEN CDB), Dr. Kazuyoshi Murata (NIP), Dr. Kentaro Uesugi, Dr. Akihisa Takeuchi, Dr. Yoshio Suzuki (JASRI), Dr. Miyuki Takeuchi, Dr. Daisuke Tamaoki, Dr. Daisuke Yamauchi, and Ms. Aki Fukuda (Univ. Hyogo) for their collaborations in the work presented here.