Dissecting morphological changes during floral abscission in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant organs are shed through a tightly-regulated process called abscission, which involves coordinated changes that enable cell separation and formation of a new protective barrier. However, the cellular processes within the abscission zone, where plant organs detach, are largely understudied. This gap is mainly due to difficulties in visualizing this region, due to its small size and location often being obscured by other plant tissues. Here, we present a simple and accessible method to visualize changes in cell shape and lignification in the abscission zone of Arabidopsis thaliana floral organs. Cell walls are stained with calcofluor white and lignin is simultaneously detected using its intrinsic autofluorescence. This inexpensive approach allows clear imaging of cellular changes during abscission zone development and can be applied to mutants with abscission-related defects.