Image-Based Methods to Study Membrane Trafficking Events in Stomatal Lineage Cells

This technique studies the membrane trafficking events in stomatal development, the micropores on plant aerial surface, to facilitate photosynthesis and the transpiration. Various techniques are used to study plant stomatal development. This includes molecular biology, cell biology or microscopy, chemical biology, mass spectrometry, biochemistry, and structural biology.

Individual stomata form asynchronously. Each stoma is formed by three transcend cell fate transitions. So collecting enough stomata lineage cells at a particular cell fate is one of the big challenges.

Membrane trafficking is essential for cell survival and growth. Stomata lineage cell is no exception. This protocol addresses the commonly used approach to study membrane trafficking events in stomata lineage cells.

Plants face challenging environment in the face of climate change. Stomata are passages for plant gas exchange, and are highly flexible to environmental stress for adaptation. We are interested in studying how abiotic stress affects the stomata development by focusing on the membrane trafficking of certain proteins in stomata lineage cells.