Development of Microfluidic Devices to Study the Elongation Capability of Tip-growing Plant Cells in Extremely Small Spaces

Summary

We describe a method to investigate the capability of tip-growing plant cells, including pollen tubes, root hairs, and moss protonemata, to elongate through extremely narrow gaps (~1 µm) in a microfluidic device.

Abstract

In vivo, tip-growing plant cells need to overcome a series of physical barriers; however, researchers lack the methodology to visualize cellular behavior in such restrictive conditions. To address this issue, we have developed growth chambers for tip-growing plant cells that contain a series of narrow, micro-fabricated gaps (~1 µm) in a poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. This transparent material allows the user to monitor tip elongation processes in individual cells during microgap penetration by time-lapse imaging. Using this experimental platform, we observed morphological changes in pollen tubes as they penetrated the microgap. We captured the dynamic changes in the shape of a fluorescently labeled vegetative nucleus and sperm cells in a pollen tube during this process. Furthermore, we demonstrated the capability of root hairs and moss protonemata to penetrate the 1 µm gap. This in vitro platform can be used to study how individual cells respond to physically constrained spaces and may provide insights into tip-growth mechanisms.

Introduction

After pollen grains germinate on a stigma, each grain produces a single pollen tube that carries sperm cells to the egg cell and the central cell in the ovule for double fertilization. Pollen tubes elongate through the style and eventually reach the ovule by sensing multiple guidance cues along their way¹. During the elongation, pollen tubes encounter a series of physical barriers; the transmitting track is filled with cells, and pollen tubes must enter the minute micropylar opening of the ovule to reach their target (Figure 1A)². Therefore, pollen tubes must have the ability to penetrate ph....

Protocol

1. Fabrication of the PDMS Microdevice to Examine Growing Pollen Tubes and Moss Protonemata

NOTE: We used a maskless photolithography instrument to prepare PDMS molds on silicon wafers. The details regarding the operation of the system are omitted in this manuscript. A standard photolithography technique⁹ using a photomask may also be used to create the PDMS molds described in this manuscript.

1. Pour 11 g of pre-polymer PDMS mixture (elastomer base:curing agent at a ratio of 10:1) into each 4-inch mold.
2. Degas the mold prepared in step 1.1 for 20 min in a vacuum chamber.
3. After curing....

Results

As illustrated in Figure 1, tip-growing plant cells encounter a series of physical barriers along their growth paths in vivo. The microfluidic in vitro cell culture platforms presented in this study enabled the examination the of tip-growing process in three types of plant cells (pollen tubes, root hairs, and moss protonemata) through 1 µm artificial gaps (Figure 3, Figure 4,

Discussion

Several critical steps in the protocol need to be followed precisely to obtain the results presented above. First, the PDMS layer and glass bottom dish surfaces must both be treated with plasma for a sufficient amount of time before bonding. Otherwise, the PDMS layer may locally detach from the glass surface while tip-growing cells are crossing the microgaps. Another crucial step in the root hair and moss protonemata protocol is the sterilization of the microdevice. Normally, root hairs and moss protonemata cells need to.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
PDMS	Dow Corning Co.	Sylgard184
Murashige & Skoog Medium	Wako Pure Chemical	392-00591
MES	Dojindo	345-01625
Sucrose	Wako Pure Chemical	196-00015
50 mm glass-bottom dish	Matsunami Glass	D210402
35 mm glass-bottom dish	Iwaki	3971-035
Surgical blade	Feather	No.11
biopsy punches	Harris		Uni-Core
Gel loading tips	Bio-Bik	124-R-204
Inverted Microscope	Olympus	IX83
CSU-W1	Yokogawa Electric		No Catalog number is avairable for this customized microscope
MetaMorph imaging software	Molecular Devices