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Scanning Electron Microscopy Analysis of Floral Development

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Book cover Flower Development

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1110))

Abstract

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) allows the morphological characterization of the surface features of floral and inflorescence structures in a manner that retains the topography or three-dimensional appearance of the structure. Even at relatively low magnification levels it is possible to characterize early developmental stages. Using medium to high power magnification at later stages of development, cell surface morphology can be visualized allowing the identification of specific epidermal cell types. The analysis of the altered developmental progressions of mutant plants can provide insight into the developmental processes that are disrupted in that mutant background.

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Acknowledgment

I thank John Mackenzie Jr. and Valerie K. Lapham from the Center for Electron Microscopy at NCSU for assistance and advice on our SEM analyses. I also thank April Wynn, Mia Chunmiao Feng, John Mackenzie Jr., and Valerie K. Lapham for comments and suggestions on the manuscript. I thank Mia Chunmiao Feng for providing the SEM images used in Fig.1

Fig. 1
figure 1

Examples of scanning electron microscopy micrographs. (a) Excessive buildup of electrostatic charge results in “overexposed” sections of the image (arrows). This is often caused by poor electrical grounding of the tissue. (b) Collapsed cells are evident (arrows). This is often caused by incomplete penetration of the fixative. The arrowhead indicates a section of the tissue that was inadvertently damaged during the dissection required to remove the external structures of this sample. (c) A relatively low-magnification image (taken at 130×) of a Cornus sanguinea inflorescence. (d) Higher magnification image of C. sanguinea petal surface (taken at 1,000×) showing a more-detailed epidermal cell surface morphology

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I apologize to those whose work is not cited due to space limitations.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Robert G. Franks

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  1. Robert G. Franks
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Correspondence to Robert G. Franks .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics, Barcelona, Spain

    José Luis Riechmann

  2. Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

    Frank Wellmer

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Franks, R.G. (2014). Scanning Electron Microscopy Analysis of Floral Development. In: Riechmann, J., Wellmer, F. (eds) Flower Development. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1110. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9408-9_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9408-9_13

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-9407-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9408-9

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