Abstract
Single-cell sampling and analysis allows the determination of solute concentrations in individual cells and tissues. This is particularly important when studying a stress such as salinity, where the cell- and tissue-specific distribution of sodium and chloride may decide a plant’s fate. In this chapter, some selected SiCSA methods are described in detail, and their advantages and possible pitfalls discussed. These methods include pressure-driven extraction of cell contents (cell sap sampling) and the analysis of extracted cell sap through picolitre osmometry (osmolality), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (concentrations of Na, K, P, S, Cl, Ca), and microfluorometry (concentrations of, for example, nitrate and total amino acids).
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Prof. Deri Tomos and all his former team members and also Professor Roger A. Leigh for teaching me single-cell sampling and analyzing techniques during my postdoc studies at Bangor University, North Wales, UK. Thanks also to Tamas Visnovitz, UCD, Ireland, for help with ImageJ.
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Fricke, W. (2012). Single-Cell Sampling and Analysis (SiCSA). In: Shabala, S., Cuin, T. (eds) Plant Salt Tolerance. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 913. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-986-0_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-986-0_5
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