Laser-scanning confocal microscopy has been used in conjunction with Fluo-3, a highly fluorescent visible wavelength probe for Ca2+, to visualize Ca2(+)-dynamics in the function of living plant cells. This combination has overcome many of the problems that have limited the use of fluorescence imaging techniques in the study of the role of cations (Ca2+ and H+) in plant cell physiology and enables these processes to be studied in single cells within intact plant tissue preparations. Maize coleoptiles respond to application of ionophores and plant growth hormones with elevations in cytosolic Ca2+ that can be resolved with a high degree of spatial resolution and can be interpreted quantitatively.