Immunocytochemistry of Chloroplast Antigens

Abstract

Although immunocytochemical procedures have been available since the early 1940s, the first study in which immunofluorescence was used as a technique on plants was not reported until 1964 (Knox et al. 1980). It was not until 1972 that Billecocq et al. utilized a peroxidase-linked antibody to detect the sites on the thylakoid and envelope membranes where the galactocyldiglycerides are located. Since these pioneering works with immunocytochemical analysis of plant systems, a number of studies, both at the light and electron microscopic levels, have utilized immunocytochemical approaches to detect chloroplast antigens (Table 1). This increase in use of antibodies in plant science is probably related to the improvements made in electron microscopic immunocytochemistry, the availability of labeled secondary antibodies from commercial sources, and the more widespread use of immunology in all phases of plant science.