Preface to The Visible Plant Cell: Biosensors and Bioreporters

Abstract

The adage ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ could not be more true than in the study of the dynamics of plant development and cell function. Over the past 20 years there has been a convergence of plant molecular biology with imaging technologies that provide a window into the development and function of plant cells, at scales ranging from individual molecules to the whole plant. As an example, the widespread availability of confocal microscopes coupled with the development of transgenic plants expressing fluorescent reporter genes has provided us with a spectrum of fluorophores with which to tag cells, organelles, and individual molecules. Sophisticated biosensors based on these and other molecules can be used to examine the interactions between proteins, measure key characteristics of the cell interior and report concentrations of signalling molecules and metabolites. Not every approach requires the use of transgenic organisms. Plants are naturally structured, pigmented, and fluorescent and this can be exploited to allow growth, photosynthesis, and stress responses to be visualized and quantified. Imaging provides a non-invasive, non-destructive means with which to examine cellular activities in living plants. It allows us to account for the heterogeneous nature of plant organs reflecting underlying developmental patterns and external environmental conditions. At higher resolutions we can examine the subcellular locations of key structures and molecules and the way in which they move, and interact, within cells. To bring together researchers using imaging techniques to address fundamental questions concerning plant development and function, a series of sessions under the banner The Visible Plant Cell: Biosensors and Bioreporters formed part of the Plant Frontiers meeting held at the University of Sheffield in March 2005. The emphasis of these sessions was not solely on techniques, but rather their applications in understanding plant function. A wide range of topics covered every scale from protein–protein interactions through organelle movement and cell–cell communication to whole plant growth and development. The papers in this focus section reflect the depth and breadth of these presentations. We would like to thank the Journal of Experimental Botany for financial support, the Society for Experimental Biology and, in particular, Richard Napier for organizing the Plant Frontiers Meeting, and all the other staff at the SEB for ensuring that the meeting ran smoothly and successfully. Thanks are also due to Mike Burrell for all his help and, of course, the speakers and attendees for making the meeting such an interesting and enjoyable occasion.