Abstract
BackgroundAbscission is the regulated dropping of plant organs, such as leaves or flower petals. This process involves a break down of the cell wall between layers of cells in the abscission zone, causing the organ to become detached. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana undergoes floral organ abscission. Various experimental methods have been used to study Arabidopsis floral organ abscission, including measuring the petal breakstrength, or the amount of force required to pull a petal from the receptacle. Petal breakstrength provides a quantitative insight into the physical integrity of the petal abscission zone.ResultsWe developed a petal breakstrength meter that allows rapid data acquisition on a personal computer. We present the design of the device and show its utility in measuring Arabidopsis petal breakstrength for abscission studies.ConclusionThis petal breakstrength meter should enable researchers to perform the petal breakstrength assay as a routine part of the characterization of environmental and genetic factors affecting abscission.
Highlights
Abscission is the regulated dropping of plant organs, such as leaves or flower petals
Abscission involves a separation between layers of cells in the abscission zone, allowing a plant organ to detach [1,2]
Basic operation of the device in the petal breakstrength assay The petal breakstrength meter consists of a petal gripper, a force sensor, an electronic circuit and a personal computer (Fig. 1A)
Summary
Abscission is the regulated dropping of plant organs, such as leaves or flower petals. This process involves a break down of the cell wall between layers of cells in the abscission zone, causing the organ to become detached. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana undergoes floral organ abscission. Abscission, the regulated shedding of plant organs, can involve loss of other plant organs besides leaves, such as flower petals. Abscission involves a separation between layers of cells in the abscission zone, allowing a plant organ to detach [1,2]. A powerful method for identifying the regulatory components of abscission has been the study of Arabidopsis thaliana mutants that affect this process. Arabidopsis does undergo floral organ abscission, such as petal dropping. AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR1 and AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR2 mutants affect abscission [8,9]
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