Just over a decade ago, biologists isolated a unique protein from jellyfish that could be inserted into other organisms—from E. coli to pigs—and cause them to radiate a brilliant green color. This green fluorescent protein (GFP) has allowed biologists to make many new discoveries regarding how living cells function. But one kingdom of life—plants—has presented special challenges to GFP detection: plants harbor tough cell walls and enormous subcellular structures that interfere with visualization, and their natural green pigments can mask the luminescent qualities of GFP.

The current issue of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols includes a freely available article that addresses these concerns. It provides advice on choosing appropriate plant tissues, designing test proteins for maximal GFP detection, and setting up microscope equipment for imaging in plants. This information will be useful to a broad range of scientists interested in plant biology and imaging technologies.

A second freely accessible article - also new to Cold Spring Harbor Protocols this month—describes a procedure for nurturing mammalian cells for studies in cell division. Both of these publications join a growing library of high-quality methods from Cold Spring Harbor Protocols that span a broad spectrum of topics essential to researchers across many disciplines.

Cold Spring Harbor Protocols is an online resource of methods used in a wide range of biology laboratories. It is structured to be highly interactive, with each protocol cross-linked to related methods, descriptive information panels, and illustrative material to maximize the total information available to investigators. Each protocol is clearly presented and designed for easy use at the bench—complete with reagents, equipment, and recipe lists. Life science researchers can access the entire collection via institutional site licenses, and can add their suggestions and comments to further refine the techniques.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press is an internationally renowned publisher of books, journals, and electronic media located on Long Island, New York. It is a division of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, an innovator in life science research and the education of scientists, students, and the public.