Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Experimental Design for Laser Microdissection RNA-Seq: Lessons from an Analysis of Maize Leaf Development
Published on: March 5, 2017
Programmed cell death remodels lace plant leaf shape during development
Arunika H L A N Gunawardena1, John S Greenwood, Nancy G Dengler
1Department of Botany, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A1.
Abstract:
Programmed cell death (PCD) functions in the developmental remodeling of leaf shape in higher plants, a process analogous to digit formation in the vertebrate limb. In this study, we provide a cytological characterization of the time course of events as PCD remodels young expanding leaves of the lace plant. Tonoplast rupture is the first PCD event in this system, indicated by alterations in cytoplasmic streaming, loss of anthocyanin color, and ultrastructural appearance. Nuclei become terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling positive soon afterward but do not become morphologically altered until late stages of PCD. Genomic DNA is fragmented, but not into internucleosomal units. Other cytoplasmic changes, such as shrinkage and degradation of organelles, occur later. This form of PCD resembles tracheary element differentiation in cytological execution but requires unique developmental regulation so that discrete panels of tissue located equidistantly between veins undergo PCD while surrounding cells do not.
Related Concept Videos
Morphogenesis
Overview of Cell Death
Cell death was observed in the early 19th century, but there was no experimental evidence to prove it. In 1842, Carl Vogt first discovered cell death in a metamorphic toad; however, it was not termed ‘cell death.’ Scientists discovered different cell death pathways only in the 20th century...
Apoptosis
Primary and Secondary Growth in Roots and Shoots
Cell Signaling in Plants
The Extrinsic Apoptotic Pathway

