Application of laser microdissection to plant pathogenic and symbiotic interactions

Abstract

Laser Microdissection (LM) is a technology that allows the rapid procurement of selected cell populations from a section of heterogeneous tissues in a manner conducive to the extraction of DNA, RNA, proteins and even metabolites. In the past few years, it has also been applied to plant biology in order to study gene expression in plant-nematode and plant-microbe interactions. LM represents a powerful tool since cells associated with a particular infection stage can be visualized under the microscope and harvested. Therefore, verification of the response of the plant during the progression of the colonization can be performed in different cell types. Applications of LM to study the interaction between the plant and both pathogenic and symbiotic organisms (i.e. nematode and fungi, respectively) are explored in this review. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.