Structural analyses of living plant nuclei.

Abstract

The nucleus is the cellular organelle in which the bulk of the genomic information is stored. From studies using fluorescence microscopy with optical sections of fixed cells, a picture of an organized nuclear structure has emerged. Recently, the application of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a fluorescent dye allows the visualization of nuclear dynamics in live cells. Using four-dimensional fluorescence microscopy, the nuclear structures within an interphase nucleus are perceived to have dynamic domains. Structural analyses of a living plant nucleus contribute to our understanding of the genome information process in a particular cell in multicelluar systems.