Dataset Information

CuticleTrace: A toolkit for capturing cell outlines from leaf cuticle with implications for paleoecology and paleoclimatology.

ABSTRACT:

Premise

Leaf epidermal cell morphology is closely tied to the evolutionary history of plants and their growth environments and is therefore of interest to many plant biologists. However, cell measurement can be time consuming and restrictive with current methods. CuticleTrace is a suite of Fiji and R-based functions that streamlines and automates the segmentation and measurement of epidermal pavement cells across a wide range of cell morphologies and image qualities.

Methods and results

We evaluated CuticleTrace-generated measurements against those from alternate automated methods and expert and undergraduate hand tracings across a taxonomically diverse 50-image data set of variable image qualities. We observed ~93% statistical agreement between CuticleTrace and expert hand-traced measurements, outperforming alternate methods.

Conclusions

CuticleTrace is a broadly applicable, modular, and customizable tool that integrates data visualization and cell shape measurement with image segmentation, lowering the barrier to high-throughput studies of epidermal morphology by vastly decreasing the labor investment required to generate high-quality cell shape data sets.

SUBMITTER: Lloyd BA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10873815 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan-Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

CuticleTrace: A toolkit for capturing cell outlines from leaf cuticle with implications for paleoecology and paleoclimatology.

Lloyd Benjamin A BA Barclay Richard S RS Dunn Regan E RE Currano Ellen D ED Mohamaad Ayuni I AI Skersies Kymbre K Punyasena Surangi W SW

Applications in plant sciences 20240101 1

<h4>Premise</h4>Leaf epidermal cell morphology is closely tied to the evolutionary history of plants and their growth environments and is therefore of interest to many plant biologists. However, cell measurement can be time consuming and restrictive with current methods. CuticleTrace is a suite of Fiji and R-based functions that streamlines and automates the segmentation and measurement of epidermal pavement cells across a wide range of cell morphologies and image qualities.<h4>Methods and resul ...[more]

PMID: 38369978

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Project description:Background and aimsThe cuticle of a limited number of plant species contains cutan, a chemically highly resistant biopolymer. As yet, the biosynthesis of cutan is not fully understood. Attempting to further unravel the origin of cutan, we analysed the chemical composition of enzymatically isolated cuticular membranes of Agave americana leaves.MethodsCuticular waxes were extracted with organic solvents. Subsequently, the dewaxed cuticular membrane was depolymerized by acid-catalysed transesterification yielding cutin monomers and cutan, a non-hydrolysable, cuticular membrane residue. The cutan matrix was analysed by thermal extraction, flash pyrolysis and thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation to elucidate the monomeric composition and deduce a putative biosynthetic origin.Key resultsAccording to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses, the cuticular waxes of A. americana contained primarily very-long-chain alkanoic acids and primary alkanols dominated by C32, whereas the cutin biopolyester of A. americana mainly consisted of 9,10-epoxy ω-hydroxy and 9,10,ω-trihydroxy C18 alkanoic acids. The main aliphatic cutan monomers were alkanoic acids, primary alkanols, ω-hydroxy alkanoic acids and alkane-α,ω-diols ranging predominantly from C28 to C34 and maximizing at C32. Minor contributions of benzene-1,3,5-triol and derivatives suggested that these aromatic moieties form the polymeric core of cutan, to which the aliphatic moieties are linked via ester and possibly ether bonds.ConclusionsHigh similarity of aliphatic moieties in the cutan and the cuticular wax component indicated a common biosynthetic origin. In order to exclude species-specific peculiarities of A. americana and to place our results in a broader context, cuticular waxes, cutin and cutan of Clivia miniata, Ficus elastica and Prunus laurocerasus leaves were also investigated. A detailed comparison showed compositional and structural differences, indicated that cutan was only found in leaves of perennial evergreen A. americana and C. miniata, and made clear that the phenomenon of cutan is possibly less present in plant species than suggested in the literature.

Project description:The hydrophobic cuticle of plant shoots serves as an important interaction interface with the environment. It consists of the lipid polymer cutin, embedded with and covered by waxes, and provides protection against stresses including desiccation, UV radiation, and pathogen attack. Bulliform cells form in longitudinal strips on the adaxial leaf surface, and have been implicated in the leaf rolling response observed in drought-stressed grass leaves. In this study, we show that bulliform cells of the adult maize leaf epidermis have a specialized cuticle, and we investigate its function along with that of bulliform cells themselves. Bulliform cells displayed increased shrinkage compared to other epidermal cell types during dehydration of the leaf, providing a potential mechanism to facilitate leaf rolling. Analysis of natural variation was used to relate bulliform strip patterning to leaf rolling rate, providing further evidence of a role for bulliform cells in leaf rolling. Bulliform cell cuticles showed a distinct ultrastructure with increased cuticle thickness compared to other leaf epidermal cells. Comparisons of cuticular conductance between adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces, and between bulliform-enriched mutants versus wild-type siblings, showed a correlation between elevated water loss rates and presence or increased density of bulliform cells, suggesting that bulliform cuticles are more water-permeable. Biochemical analysis revealed altered cutin composition and increased cutin monomer content in bulliform-enriched tissues. In particular, our findings suggest that an increase in 9,10-epoxy-18-hydroxyoctadecanoic acid content, and a lower proportion of ferulate, are characteristics of bulliform cuticles. We hypothesize that elevated water permeability of the bulliform cell cuticle contributes to the differential shrinkage of these cells during leaf dehydration, thereby facilitating the function of bulliform cells in stress-induced leaf rolling observed in grasses.

Dataset Information

CuticleTrace: A toolkit for capturing cell outlines from leaf cuticle with implications for paleoecology and paleoclimatology.

Premise

Methods and results

Conclusions

Publications

CuticleTrace: A toolkit for capturing cell outlines from leaf cuticle with implications for paleoecology and paleoclimatology.

Similar Datasets

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