Combining Clearing and Fluorescence Microscopy for Visualising Changes in Gene Expression and Physiological Responses to Plasmodiophora brassicae.

Abstract

Infection of Brassica crops by the soilborne protist Plasmodiophora brassicae leads to gall formation on the underground organs. The formation of galls requires cellular reprogramming and changes in the metabolism of the infected plant. This is necessary to establish a pathogen-oriented physiological sink toward which the host nutrients are redirected. For a complete understanding of this particular plant-pathogen interaction and the mechanisms by which host growth and development are subverted and repatterned, it is essential to track and observe the internal changes accompanying gall formation with cellular resolution. Methods combining fluorescent stains and fluorescent proteins are often employed to study anatomical and physiological responses in plants. Unfortunately, the large size of galls and their low transparency act as major hurdles in performing whole-mount observations under the microscope. Moreover, low transparency limits the employment of fluorescence microscopy to study clubroot disease progression and gall formation. This article presents an optimized method for fixing and clearing galls to facilitate epifluorescence and confocal microscopy for inspecting P. brassicae-infected galls. A tissue-clearing protocol for rapid optical clearing was used followed by vibratome sectioning to detect anatomical changes and localize gene expression with promoter fusions and reporter lines tagged with fluorescent proteins. This method will prove useful for studying cellular and physiological responses in other pathogen-triggered structures in plants, such as nematode-induced syncytia and root knots, as well as leaf galls and deformations caused by insects.

Plant phenotyping relevance

感染ゴールの解剖学的変化や生理応答を可視化するための組織透明化・蛍光顕微鏡法を最適化しており、植物病態の表現型取得が中心である。

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