Micromanipulation of amyloplasts with optical tweezers in Arabidopsis stems

Intracellular sedimentation of highly dense, starch-filled amyloplasts toward the gravity vector is likely a key initial step for gravity sensing in plants. However, recent live-cell imaging technology revealed that most amyloplasts continuously exhibit dynamic, saltatory movements in the endodermal cells of Arabidopsis stems. These complicated movements led to questions about what type of amyloplast movement triggers gravity sensing. Here we show that a confocal microscope equipped with optical tweezers can be a powerful tool to trap and manipulate amyloplasts noninvasively, while simultaneously observing cellular responses such as vacuolar dynamics in living cells. A near-infrared (λ = 1064 nm) laser that was focused into the endodermal cells at 1 mW of laser power attracted and captured amyloplasts at the laser focus. The optical force exerted on the amyloplasts was theoretically estimated to be up to 1 pN. Interestingly, endosomes and trans-Golgi networks were trapped at 30 mW but not at 1 mW, which is probably due to lower refractive indices of these organelles than that of the amyloplasts. Because amyloplasts are in close proximity to vacuolar membranes in endodermal cells, their physical interaction could be visualized in real time. The vacuolar membranes drastically stretched and deformed in response to the manipulated movements of amyloplasts by optical tweezers. Our new method provides deep insights into the biophysical properties of plant organelles in vivo and opens a new avenue for studying gravity-sensing mechanisms in plants.