Figure 5.

ERD7 does not appear to be required for regulating LD numbers and sizes in Arabidopsis under normal growth conditions. Shown are representative CLSM images of BODIPY-stained LDs in leaf epidermal cells of (A) embryo cotyledon cells in mature (dry) seeds and germinating seedlings either 1, 2, or 4 days after germination; (B) 15-day-old Arabidopsis seedlings; and (C) 6-week-old, senescent Arabidopsis plants, from WT and erd7-1 and/or erd7-2 mutant lines, as indicated by labels. Scale bar = 20 μm. Shown also in (B,C) in the graphs on the right are the quantifications of LD numbers per area and LD sizes. Values of LD numbers in (B) are averages ± SD from three biological replicates, with each replicate consisting of two leaf samples from 3–4 plants per line. Values of LD numbers in (C) are averages ± SD from two biological replicates of 10 plants per line. LD diameters were calculated using the same data set (i.e., micrographs) and are presented as the percentage of LDs in three size classes: <0.5 μm (small), 0.5–1.0 μm (intermediate), and >1.0 μm (large); refer also to key. Overall, there were no significant differences in either LD numbers per area or LD sizes in leaves of 15-day-old seedlings or 6-week-old (senescing) plants from WT and both the erd7-1 and erd7-2 mutant lines, based on Student’s t-tests (p ≤ 0.05). Similarly, based on images presented in (A) and others, no obvious qualitative differences in LD numbers or sizes were observed between WT and erd7-1 mutant seeds and seedlings.