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Laser Capture Microdissection: Avoiding Bias in Analysis by Selecting Just What Matters

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Biotechnology of Plant Secondary Metabolism

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1405))

Abstract

Laser capture microdissection (LCM) is a powerful technique for harvesting specific cells from a heterogeneous population. As each cell and tissue has its unique genetic, proteomic, and metabolic profile, the use of homogeneous samples is important for a better understanding of complex processes in both animal and plant systems. In case of plants, LCM is very suitable as the highly regular tissue organization and stable cell walls from these organisms enable visual identification of various cell types without staining of tissue sections, which can prevent some downstream analysis. Considering the applicability of LCM to any plant species, here we provide a step-by-step protocol for selecting specific cells or tissues through this technology.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Haritika Majithia for providing soybean shoot tip pictures (Fig. 1). The development of the described protocol and preparation of this manuscript were supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Dr. Louis G. Johnson Foundation, and the Commission for Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES, Brazil).

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Correspondence to Martina V. Strömvik .

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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de Almeida, M.R., Strömvik, M.V. (2016). Laser Capture Microdissection: Avoiding Bias in Analysis by Selecting Just What Matters. In: Fett-Neto, A. (eds) Biotechnology of Plant Secondary Metabolism. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1405. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3393-8_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3393-8_11

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-3391-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-3393-8

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