Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXpAYI0LOoE&t=2s
Confocal fluorescence microscopy of the endodermis inner tangential cell wall (ITCW) of sorghum roots grown with silicic acid (+Si) revealed the 3D structure of the lignin spots. Concave region with green autofluorescence delineated silica aggregates fluorescing in blue. In roots grown without supplemental silicic acid (-Si), locations of potential silica aggregation showed green encircled by blue autofluorescence. To understand whether the change in autofluorescence was due to binding of silicic acid, we examined cross sections of -Si roots that were exposed to +Si medium for 3 hours. Blue autofluorescence region appeared on top of a green fluorescent region (Figure 3). The newly deposited cell wall was possibly silicified, as silica aggregates form as soon as 2 hours after exposure to silicic acid (Zexer and Elbaum, 2020).
Figure (0:00) Silica and lignin deposition at the endodermis of sorghum roots. (A) Image of a sorghum seedling root (left) and a diagram of its cross section (right). The endodermis cell layer, which separates the cortex and stele, is colored brown. Bright dots on the endodermis inner tangential cell wall (ITCW) mark the lignin and silica deposits. (B) SEM image in the back-scattered electron mode of the endodermis after removal of the cortex. Silica aggregates appear white. (C) Typical autofluorescence of silicified endodermis, showing the silica aggregates in blue and the ITCW in green. Scale bars in panels (B, C), represent 10 μm. Modified from Zexer and Elbaum (2020).
Keywords: ITCW, lignin, Raman microspectroscopy, root endodermis, silicic acid, silicon, sorghum
Citation: Zexer N, Diehn S and Elbaum R (2024) Deposition of silica in sorghum root endodermis modifies the chemistry of associated lignin. Front. Plant Sci. 15:1370479. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1370479
Received: 14 January 2024; Accepted: 05 March 2024;
Published: 03 April 2024.
Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0 - Creative Commons
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