Refinement of a clearing protocol to study crassinucellate ovules of the sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. Amaranthaceae)

摘要

BackgroundClearing methods allow relatively quick processing of plant material and examination of cellular structures by rendering tissues and organs translucent. They have been adapted for plant embryology, primarily to study ovule development, megasporogenesis, megagametogenesis and embryogenesis. Such clearing methods overcome several disadvantages of the conventional embedding-sectioning techniques that are arduous and time-consuming. Although numerous protocols with different clearing solutions have been described, there have been no reports to date proposing a reliable method to clear the crassinucellate ovules of the sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), an economically important crop. Therefore, this study aims to find a suitable approach to improve the tissue transparency of sugar beet ovules at different developmental stages.