Protocol

Whole-Mount DAPI Staining and Measurement of DNA Content in Plant Cells

This protocol was adapted from "How to Analyze a Mutant Phenotypically," Chapter 4, in Arabidopsis by Detlef Weigel and Jane Glazebrook. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 2002.

INTRODUCTION

During development, many plant cells undergo endoreduplication, whereby ploidy increases to a multiple of the normal 2C content. For example, trichome development is accompanied by an increase in ploidy to 32C, indicating that trichome cells undergo four rounds of endoreduplication. In the protocol described here, DNA levels, and hence developmental progress in the corresponding cells, are measured by staining the DNA with a fluorescent marker and then quantifying the fluorescence of individual nuclei.