MICRO - structural bioindications of environmental stress factors

For picture details, click on each image.

Fig. 1 Healthy cell in the mesophyll of a beech leaf in summer. Transmission elec- tron microscopy. Foto: Terry Menard (WSL).

Fig. 2 Mycorrhized spruce root tip. Light microscopy. Foto: Petra Bernasconi (WSL).

Fig. 3 Cell wall thickening in the form of pec- tin protrusions (arrowhead) in response to ozone stress within mesophyll of manna ash leaves. Histochemical detection in fluores- cence microscopy. Foto: Pierre Vollenweider (WSL).

Plants confronted with environmental or anthropogeneous constrains quickly develop modifications in the microscopical cell, tissue and organ structure of the affected plant parts. The symptom morphology, distribution and severity reflect the way the plant physiology is disturbed and vary for different stress factors. Hence, microscopy can be used to understand the mechanistic relationship between stress and injury as well as diagnose the origin of plant health disorders.

Objectives and methods

Principal objectives in MICRO are to develop analytical tools to assess the structural changes from the sub-cellular to whole organ level and to apply them within the framework of research projects on different environmental issues. Primarily, the effects of abiotic stress factors are studied.

In MICRO, different qualitative and quantitative approaches in transmitted light, fluorescent and electron microscopy are combined. Groups of bioindications and their distribution within cells and tissues are thus characterised in order to decipher the plant’s response to physiological changes caused by the investigated stress factor. Structures, evidenced using specific histochemical stains, can be quantified using image analysis and data compared with physiological, (bio)chemical, morphological or other measurements.

Topics

The approaches developed in MICRO are versatile and applied to various research fields. Our science is principally developed through participation within different WSL large experiments (MODOEK) and applied in collaboration projects with WSL or other partners. Our motto is that structural changes are fundamental in the way plants respond to stress and occur simultaneously to modifications in the plant physiology.

Participants

• Pierre Vollenweider  (project leader)
• Madeleine S. Goerg-Günthardt
• Terence Menard
• Marcus Schaub

Contact

• Pierre Vollenweider
  

• Marcus Schaub
  

Links to examples of relevant research topics

• Ozone injury in foliage of woody species. >>
• Compartmentation of soil contaminants in plants. >>
• Tolerance and stress reactions in woody species in response to ongoing climate change. >>