TY - JOUR AU - Rae, Angus E. AU - Rolland, Vivien AU - White, Rosemary G. AU - Mathesius, Ulrike PY - 2021 DA - 2021/03/07 TI - New methods for confocal imaging of infection threads in crop and model legumes JO - Plant Methods SP - 24 VL - 17 IS - 1 AB - The formation of infection threads in the symbiotic infection of rhizobacteria in legumes is a unique, fascinating, and poorly understood process. Infection threads are tubes of cell wall material that transport rhizobacteria from root hair cells to developing nodules in host roots. They form in a type of reverse tip-growth from an inversion of the root hair cell wall, but the mechanism driving this growth is unknown, and the composition of the thread wall remains unclear. High resolution, 3-dimensional imaging of infection threads, and cell wall component specific labelling, would greatly aid in our understanding of the nature and development of these structures. To date, such imaging has not been done, with infection threads typically imaged by GFP-tagged rhizobia within them, or histochemically in thin sections. SN - 1746-4811 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-021-00725-6 DO - 10.1186/s13007-021-00725-6 ID - Rae2021 ER -