Victoria V. Roshchina Model Systems to Study the Excretory Function of Higher Plants Model Systems to Study the Excretory Function of Higher Plants Victoria V. Roshchina Model Systems to Study the Excretory Function of Higher Plants Victoria V. Roshchina Institute of Cell Biophysics Russian Academy of Sciences Pushchino Russia ISBN 978-94-017-8785-7 ISBN 978-94-017-8786-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8786-4 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London Library of Congress Control Number: 2014943518 © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 T his work is subject to copyright. 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Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. T he use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Abstrac t This monograph presents plant model systems suitable for vital microscopic analy- sis of excretory function that have been studied by the author during the last 15 years. The approaches to modeling and the screening of similar models that are described may be of interest to the wider ring of biologists working in the fi elds of cell biology, ecology, medicine, and pharmacology. Without vivisection and fi xation, a researcher can observe the processes of secretion and the cellular reac- tions to exometabolites and can analyze the mechanisms of action. Special models are recommended for studies of cell–cell contacts. Some of the model systems may be used in express-diagnostics for biotechnology, ecological monitoring, and phar- macology instead of animal models. v Pref ace Modeling is widely used in biology, in areas such as in genetics, physiology, and pharmacology, where biological, physicochemical, and mathematical models of processes are considered. Biological models are simpler living systems that are suit- able for experimental studies. Laboratory animals, plants, and various strains of microorganisms can serve as biological models. To explain the causes of various biological phenomena their mechanisms also can be modeled. Modeling of the life conditions at the levels of individuals, populations, and ecosystems is possible too. Choosing similar models allows the analysis of characteristics, features, and laws of biological processes occurring in real complex organisms. In such models, research- ers can reproduce certain conditions that permits the mechanisms of an event or process to be studied. A model process may be demonstrated in artifi cial systems using genetic disorders or mutants or in natural ones by changes in temperature, light regimes, poisons, etc. S ince the 1970s, there have been attempts to model excretory function at differ- ent levels of organization: molecular, subcellular, cellular, tissue, organ, organism, and population levels that described in monographs (Roshchina VD and Roshchina VV 1989, Roshchina VV and Roshchina VD 1993). Currently, there is a need to attract researchers to modeling as one approach to the study of excretory function involving cell donors and cell acceptors of secretion, biosensors that per- ceive and react to the components of secretion in the form of a physiological response. The aim of this type of modeling is to understand the mechanisms of intercellular signaling and regulation through excretions in the chemical communi- cation of organisms. This monograph is focused on cellular models to study plant excretions in vital conditions by microscopic and spectral methods. The objects should be clearly seen under various microscopes and have intensively colored and/ or fl uorescent secretory products. Pushchino, Russia Victoria V. Roshchina vii Acknowledgement I am grateful to my colleague Dr. Valerii Yashin and to the engineers Nadezhda Prizova, Lyubov Khaibulaeva, Nikolai Shvirst, and Andrei Kuchin for their constant cooperation in experimental work. ix