DV
Dušan Veličković
  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Research fields
  • Plant science
Determination of Storage (Starch/Glycogen) and Total Saccharides Content in Algae and Cyanobacteria by a Phenol-Sulfuric Acid Method
Authors:  Tomáš Zavřel, Petra Očenášová, Maria A. Sinetova and Jan Červený, date: 08/05/2018, view: 10613, Q&A: 2
This is a protocol for quantitative determination of storage and total carbohydrates in algae and cyanobacteria. The protocol is simple, fast and sensitive and it requires only few standard chemicals. Great advantage of this protocol is that both storage and total saccharides can be determined in the cellular pellets that were already used for chlorophyll and carotenoids quantification. Since it is recommended to perform the pigments measurement in triplicates, each pigment analysis can generate samples for both total saccharide and glycogen/starch content quantification.

The protocol was applied for quantification of both storage and total carbohydrates in cyanobacteria Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142 and Cyanobacterium sp. IPPAS B-1200. It was also applied for estimation of storage polysaccharides in Galdieria (IPPAS P-500, IPPAS P-507, IPPAS P-508, IPPAS P-513), Cyanidium caldarium IPPAS P-510, in green algae Chlorella sp. IPPAS C-1 and C-1210, Parachlorella kessleri IPPAS C-9, Nannochloris sp. C-1509, Coelastrella sp. IPPAS H-626, Haematococcus sp. IPPAS H-629 and H-239, and in Eustigmatos sp. IPPAS H-242 and IPPAS C-70.
Assay of Arabinofuranosidase Activity in Maize Roots
Authors:  Liudmila V. Kozlova, Polina V. Mikshina and Tatyana A. Gorshkova, date: 03/20/2016, view: 8775, Q&A: 0
Root is a perfect model for studying the mechanisms of plant cell growth. Along the root length, several zones where cells are at different stages of development can be visualized (Figure 1). The dissection of the root on these zones allows the investigation of biochemical and genetic aspects of different growth steps. Maize primary root is much more massive than the root of other Monocots and thus more convenient for such type of research. Plant cell wall, mainly consisting of polysaccharides, plays an important role in plant life. Therefore, measurement of plant carbohydrate content and glycoside-modifying enzyme activity in plant cells has become an important aspect in plant physiology. One of the well-documented changes of hemicelluloses molecules during elongation growth of monocots cells is the decrease of arabinose substitution of glucuronoarabinoxylans. This might be caused by changes in synthesis of this polysaccharide or by the action of arabinofuranosidases. Here, we describe the protocol of spectrophotometric measuring of arabinofuranosidase activity in maize root by the rate of hydrolysis of chromogenic substrate (4-nitrophenyl α-L-arabinofuranoside).


Figure 1. Scheme of plant material collection for further arabinofuranosidase assay. Four-day-old dark-grown maize seedling (left panel). Different zones of primary maize root and corresponding stages of cell development, according to Kozlova et al. (2012) (right panel).
Quantification of Sodium Accumulation in Arabidopsis thaliana Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometery (ICP-OES)
Authors:  Won-Gyu Choi and Simon Gilroy, date: 08/20/2015, view: 8386, Q&A: 0
Salt stress is a major issue for plants growing in both natural and agricultural settings (Deinlein et al., 2014). For example, irrigation can lead to the build up of salts in the soil as the irrigation water evaporates, leading to salinization, inhibition of plant growth, reduced productivity and eventually to loss of agriculturally usable land. One key element in trying to understand how salt stress impacts plant growth and development, in defining plant salt sensing and response mechanisms and eventually in the breeding or engineering of plants resistant to this stress is monitoring their salt uptake and redistribution. Methods such as imaging Na-sensitive fluorescent probes (Kader and Lindberg, 2005) and use of Na-ion selective microelectrodes (Shabala et al., 2005) offer the potential to follow Na levels in the plant in a non-destructive manner but are technically demanding and not applicable to field, or even many laboratory, conditions. However, tissue sampling followed by inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP) represents a simple, quantitative assay to monitor total Na levels in plant samples. ICP analysis is also applicable to plants in any environment where samples can be harvested. The approach uses tissue digestion in acid solutions, followed by injection of the resulting sample into an inductively coupled plasma spectrometer and monitoring the characteristic emitted spectrum from Na. As Na is stable, no complex sample preservation is required. Care needs to be taken with possible Na contamination in standards and samples from the water used for sample preparation and from glassware but otherwise, the approach is simple and robust.
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