| Abstract: | By means of paraformaldehyde fixation, Triton X-100 extraction and TRITC-phalloidin staining, the presence and distribution patterns of F-actin in the outer epidermal cells of the garlic (Allium sativum L.) sheath were studied with fluorescence probe technique and confocal laser scanning microscopy. There were a lot of actin filaments (AFs) impenetrate the cell wall, but the AFs with red fluorescence were absent when the cells were treated with cytochalasin D before fixation; the same result was obtained when the cells were treated with unlabeled phalloidin. These results indicate the presence of F-actin in the intercellular channels and that it is related to the plasmodesmata and intercellular trafficking of macromolecules. |
