Laser-Scanning Mikroskop mit konfokaler Optik

我们研究了植物干细胞在顶端分生组织中平衡的调节机制。由于干细胞群体本身以及为分生组织完整性提供组织线索的细胞经历了永久的更替，我们需要将我们的研究从组织切片提供的静态2D水平扩展到通过时间推移共聚焦显微镜实现的动态4D水平。我们已经开发了携带多色荧光记者的植物品系，这将使我们能够同时可视化茎顶端分生组织中的所有主要区域。由于记者的目标是细胞核，因此有可能对给定区域内的细胞数量进行量化。此外，我们正在开发强大的标记物来评估细胞分裂活动，与细胞识别标记物一起，这些工具将使我们对拟南芥顶端干细胞生态位中的细胞行为有前所未有的了解。对于这些实验，我们需要一个多功能的直立式共聚焦显微镜，由于每个实验有许多同时检测到的标记，所以能够分辨光谱信息。此外，为了获得定量信息，我们将需要相当程度的成像自动化。到目前为止，我们机构还不存在符合这些要求的仪器，现有的仪器被大量使用，排除了这些类型的分析。

We study the regulatory mechanisms underlying plant stem cell homeostasis at the shoot apical meristem. Since the stem cell population itself as well as the cells providing the organizational cues for meristem integrity undergo permanent turnover, we need to expand our studies from the static 2D level afforded by histological sections to the dynamic 4D level achieved by time lapse confocal microscopy. We have developed plant lines carrying multi-color fluorescent reporters, which will enable us to visualize all major domains within the shoot apical meristem simultaneously. Since the reporters are targeted to the nucleus, it will be possible to quantify the cell number within a given domain. In addition we are developing powerful markers to assess cell division activity and together with cell identity markers, these tools will give us unprecedented insight into cell behavior in the apical stem cell niche of Arabidopsis. For these experiments we need access to a versatile upright confocal microscope able to resolve spectral information due to the multitude of simultaneously detected markers for many hours for each experiment. Furthermore, to acquire quantitative information, we will need a substantial level of automation for imaging. So far, an instrument that meets these requirements does not exist at our institution and the available instruments are highly used precluding these types of analysis.