Plant Science

Phytophthora infestans is a hemibiotroph oomycete that primarily infects potato and tomato. It infects stems, leaves, and tubers and fruits of potato and tomato. High throughput and reproducible infection assays are prerequisites to find sources of resistance in any crop. In this protocol, we describe a detached leaf assay (DLA) for conducting the

RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has opened up the possibility of studying virtually any organism at the whole transcriptome level. Nevertheless, the absence of a sequenced and accurately annotated reference genome may be an obstacle for applying this technique to non-model organisms, especially for those with a complex genome. While de novo transcriptome

Over the last decade, it has been noticed that microbial pathogens and pests deliver small RNA (sRNA) effectors into their host plants to manipulate plant physiology and immunity for infection, known as cross kingdom RNA interference. In this process, fungal and oomycete parasite sRNAs hijack the plant ARGONAUTE (AGO)/RNA-induced silencing complex

The ion-selective vibrating probe has been used to detect and quantify the magnitude and direction of transmembrane fluxes of several ions in a wide range of biological systems. Inherently non-invasive, vibrating probes have been essential to access relevant electrophysiological parameters related to apical growth and morphogenesis in pollen

Histological stains are useful tools for characterizing cell shape, arrangement and the material they are made from. Stains can be used individually or simultaneously to mark different cell structures or polymers within the same cells, and to visualize them in different colors. Histological stains can be combined with genetically-encoded

Lipids metabolism is comprised of networks of reactions occurred in different subcellular compartments. Isotopic labeling is a good way to track the transformations and movements of metabolites without perturbing overall cellular metabolism. Fatty acids, the building blocks of membrane lipids and storage triacylglycerols, are synthesized in

Researchers face a number of challenges in the construction of soil columns which can affect the outcome of their experiments. The use of intact soil cores closely mimics actual field conditions. However, the excavation of large intact soil cores is a time-consuming, labor-intensive process and may lead to soil compaction that would influence the