Visualization of Actin Organization and Quantification in Fixed Arabidopsis Pollen Grains and Tubes.

Although it is widely accepted that actin plays an important role in regulating pollen germination and pollen tube growth, how actin exactly performs functions remains incompletely understood. As the function of actin is dictated by its spatial organization, it is the key to reveal how exactly actin distributes in space in pollen cells. Here we describe the protocol of revealing and quantifying the spatial organization of actin using fluorescent phalloidin-staining in fixed Arabidopsis pollen grains and pollen tubes. We also introduce the method of assessing the stability and/or turnover rate of actin filaments in pollen cells using the treatment of latrunculin B.