Isolation of Maize Protoplasts from the Root Cap and Apex

Abstract

Over the last 10 years, several kinds of enzyme treatment for the isolation of maize root protoplasts have been reported. The different methods proposed were generally used for physiological studies on root protoplasts: ion transport Lin 1980; Lin 1981 ; Gronwald and Leonard 1982); electrokinetic properties (Pilet 1981; Senn and Pilet 1981, 1982); respiratory and membrane properties (Taylor and Hall 1976; Lin 1982) and herbicide absorption (Darmstadt et al. 1983, 1984). Very few reports on the isolation conditions from several well-delimited root zones have been published (Pilet et al. 1972;Senn and Pilet 1980). The cap, whose importance in root protection is well known, on the penetration of the root through the soil, in graviperception (Wilkins 1976), and in the production and release of different kinds of substances such as growth inhibitors (Pilet 1981) or slime (Pauli and Jones 1975), has not yet been used for specific protoplast preparation.