Analysis of the Synaptonemal Complex in Brassica Using TEM

Much of meiosis research is focussed on Arabidopsis thaliana , largely due to the significant advantages it brings, having a small sequenced genome with comparatively little repetitive DNA, the ease of forward and reverse genetics, and a short life cycle. On the other hand, due the small genome size using Arabidopsis may be problematic for generating sufficient meiotic material for other types of analysis e.g., proteomics using prophase meiocytes and cytological analysis of the synaptonemal complex at the subcellular level. One solution is to use closely related species with larger genomes, in this case the Brassicas. This chapter contains methods for spreading of Brassica oleracea meiocytes for the analysis of the synaptonemal complex by silver staining and immunolocalization with gold-coupled antibodies using transmission electron microscopy.