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Collecting and Processing Wood Microcores for Monitoring Xylogenesis

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Plant Microtechniques and Protocols

Abstract

Detailed analyses of cambium activity and wood formation need repeated samplings of the developing xylem and specific procedures for sample preparation. In order to minimize the damage to the stem, wood samples are extracted as microcores. Because of the small size of the samples, inclusion in an embedding medium, such as paraffin, is suggested to adequately fix the samples and to cut the tissues in thin sections with a microtome. Sections are stained and observed under normal and polarized light to identify the cambial region, stages of wood formation (enlargement and cell wall thickening) and mature cells. This procedure allows quantitative data to be obtained quickly to reconstruct timings and patterns of wood formation (duration and rates) in tree species.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by grants from Consortium de Recherche sur la Forêt Boréale Commerciale, Fonds de Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies du Québec, National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Forêt dʼEnseignement et de Recherche Simoncouche. The author thanks E. Gallo, R. Menardi, C. Soucy for their technical recommendations and A. Garside for editing the English text.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 boulevard de l’Université, G7H 2B1, Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada

    Annie Deslauriers & Sergio Rossi

  2. Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Eryuan Liang

Authors
  1. Annie Deslauriers
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  2. Sergio Rossi
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  3. Eryuan Liang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Annie Deslauriers .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, CALGARY, Alberta, Canada

    Edward Chee Tak Yeung

  2. Department of Plant Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Claudio Stasolla

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Michael John Sumner

  4. Center for Basic Research in Digestive Disease, Mayo Clinic , Rochester, Minnesota, USA

    Bing Quan Huang

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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Deslauriers, A., Rossi, S., Liang, E. (2015). Collecting and Processing Wood Microcores for Monitoring Xylogenesis. In: Yeung, E., Stasolla, C., Sumner, M., Huang, B. (eds) Plant Microtechniques and Protocols. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19944-3_23

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