Analysis of Endoplasmic Reticulum–Endosome Association Using Live-Cell Imaging in Plant Cells

Abstract

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is one of the most abundant endomembrane compartments and is in close association with most of the other organelles. In mammalian and yeast cells, the physiological roles and the molecular machineries underlying such association have only recently begun to emerge. In plant cells, recent live-cell confocal imaging and electron microscopy studies have established that endosomes are associated with the ER [1]. Here, we describe confocal imaging methods and software to analyze ER–endosome association in plant cells.