Review

The visible touch: in planta visualization of protein-protein interactions by fluorophore-based methods

Riyaz A Bhat¹ , Thomas Lahaye² and Ralph Panstruga¹

¹  Department of Plant-Microbe Interactions, Max-Planck-Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, D-50829 Köln, Germany

²  Institute of Genetics, Martin-Luther University, Weinbergweg 10, D-06099 Halle, Germany

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Plant Methods 2006, 2:12doi:10.1186/1746-4811-2-12

Published:	26 June 2006

Abstract

Non-invasive fluorophore-based protein interaction assays like fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC, also referred to as "split YFP") have been proven invaluable tools to study protein-protein interactions in living cells. Both methods are now frequently used in the plant sciences and are likely to develop into standard techniques for the identification, verification and in-depth analysis of polypeptide interactions. In this review, we address the individual strengths and weaknesses of both approaches and provide an outlook about new directions and possible future developments for both techniques.