Plant research is a field of study that focuses on understanding the biology, physiology, and genetics of plants. It is an important area of research that has numerous applications, such as developing new crops, improving agricultural practices, and addressing environmental challenges. Tissue sections are often used in plant research as they provide a thin and flat sample that can be easily observed under a microscope. This allows researchers to study the structure and function of plant tissues and organs, such as leaves, stems, and roots, and investigate how plants respond to different environmental conditions, such as stress or pathogens.
The old fashioned method of free-hand sectioning of plant tissue has been performed for a very long time. Free-hand sectioning is done with razor blades, but this is difficult to apply to plant samples that are hard to hold or manipulate. Vibratomes or vibrating microtomes and rotary microtomes can be an excellent tool for cutting plant tissue sections, and these machines help generate high quality thin sections. Certain plant parts are also made of harder materials, such as seeds or seed pods. Rotary microtomes are capable of cutting through much harder specimens and can be used to section those plant components.
Our Compresstome® tissue slicers and rotary microtomes have been developed and used extensively in plant research. In fact, there is even a simple published guide to use for cutting plant slices. Download this guide below:
Not sure which model is right for your needs?
In this book chapter publication by Drs. Mohamed M. Mira, Edward C. Yeung, and Claudio Stasolla, the team describes a simple guide to use for cutting plant slices with the Compresstome® for research. They are able to cut thin fresh plant tissue slices, which are then placed onto a glass slide for further experimental treatments. They are able to then visualize proteins as GFP signals in samples like corn roots.
Mira MM, Hill RD, Stasolla C. Phytoglobins Improve Hypoxic Root Growth by Alleviating Apical Meristem Cell Death. Plant Physiol. 2016 Nov;172(3):2044-2056. Epub 2016 Oct 4. PMID: 27702845; PMCID: PMC5100795. Download PDF
Mira MM, El-Khateeb EA, Gaafar RM, Igamberdiev AU, Hill RD, Stasolla C. Stem cell fate in hypoxic root apical meristems is influenced by phytoglobin expression. J Exp Bot. 2020 Feb 19;71(4):1350-1362. PMID: 31541257. Download PDF
Mira, M., Yeung, E., & Stasolla, C. (2022). A Simple Guide to the Use of Compresstome in Plant Research. In Plant Tissue Culture: New Techniques and Application in Horticultural Species of Tropical Region (pp. 63-74). Springer Nature. Download PDF
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