Cuticle fluorescence during embryogenesis of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh.

Cuticle visualized by auramine 0 fluorescence on developing Arabidopsis thaliana embryos was investigated. Localization of the cuticle was studied on embryos of the zygotic wild Ler ecotype and nine lines of embryonic mutant: CS 2330, CS 3009, CS 3016, CS 3023, CS3025, CS 6330, CS 6340, CS 6343 and CS 6346. In Arabidopsis Ler ecotype embryogenesis, a fluorescing cuticle layer appears on the globular embryo and persists during successive stages of development. Such a layer does not occur on the suspensor. In a similar way, fluorescing cuticle envelops the entire globular and older embryo of embryonic mutants, although the embryos of different mutant lines reach different developmental stages.