Cytochemical and immunological approaches to plant cell biology / edited by E. L. Vigil and C. R. Hawes

This publication has been reprinted from 2 special issue of the Cell Biology International Reports, vol. 13, no. 1, january 1989

INTRODUCTION: This special issue of Cell Biology International Reports contains refereed original papers and reviews on the application of a number of new cytochemical methods to a wide range of studies in plant cell biology. These papers consist mainly of invited talks presented at a minisymposium on Histochemistry of Botanical Samples I was asked to organize for the 8th International Congress of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry. I am indeed grateful to Chris Hawes, co-chair of the minisymposium and co-editor, and Gillian Bullock, editor of Cell Biology International Reports, for their support and assistance in the preparation of this special issue. It is our hope that readers will find in these thirteen papers pertinent information on new cytochemical methods and technical solutions to experimental problems applicable to their own investigations. Recent advances in methods of tissue preparation and microscopio examination have made it possible for plant cell biologists to employ a wide spectrum of cytochemical procedures in their studies of cellular phenomena associated with growth and development of the plant body. Explorations into localizing genes and gene products by in situ hybridization have opened up one of the most exciting áreas of plant cytochemistry and molecular biology. The reports by McFadden and Harris illustrate how powerful the technique is for localizing mRNA or cDNA transcripts and storage proteins, using colloidal gold immunocytochemistry and the indirect method. Studies by Hermán et al. on expression of foreign proteins of transgenic plants have also been greatly advanced using colloidal gold immunocytochemistry to test for targeting signáis involved in regulating transport of specific storage proteins and lectins through organelles of the endomembrane system to vacuoles. My group has observed that quantitation of changes in the vacuole compartment integral to protein body formation during seed ripening under conditions of simulated drought can be analyzed readily using an image analysis system...