In: Phyton 54, Fasc. 2 (2014): S. 353-368 with 3 figures DOI: 10.12905/0380.phyton54(2)2014-0353

Key words: Ascorbate, electron microscopy, glutathione, subcellular.

Summary

Müller M., Koffler B. E. & Zechmann B. 2014. High resolution imaging of subcellular ascorbate and gluathione contens in plants. – Phyton (Horn, Austria) 54 (2): 353–368, with 3 figures.

Ascorbate and glutathione are the most important antioxidants in plants. They are involved in the detoxification of reactive oxygen species (ROS), redox signaling, the modulation of defense gene expression and important for the regulation of enzymatic activities. For these reasons levels of ascorbate and glutathione are often used as stress markers in plants. Nevertheless, most studies in the past focused on measuring ascorbate and glutathione in whole tissues and organs rather than in single cells and organelles. Considering that stress situations affect cell compartments differently and that ascorbate and glutathione metabolism is highly compartment specific it is essential to study ascorbate and glutathione contents on the subcellular level in order to gain a deeper insight into how ascorbate and glutathione are involved in plant defense. After a short introduction about ascorbate and glutathione metabolism in plants this review focuses on methods (high performance liquid chromatography, different light and electron microscopical approaches) that are currently used to visualize ascorbate and glutathione in plants. It will summarize the compartment specific distribution and concentrations of ascorbate and glutathione found in different plant species and will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches. It will also discuss limitations of these methods and provide evidence for the accuracy of the applied techniques. After all, this review gives a good overview about the current state of the art to visualize compartment specific ascorbate and glutathione contents in plants.