The use of green fluorescent protein as a tool to identify roots in mixed plant stands
Marc Faget A , Juan M. Herrera A , Peter Stamp B , Ingrid Aulinger-Leipner B , Emmanuel Frossard A and Markus Liedgens A CA ETH Zurich, Institute of Plant Sciences, Eschikon 33, CH-8315 Lindau, Switzerland.
B ETH Zurich, Institute of Plant Sciences, Universitaetstr. 2, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
C Corresponding author. Email: markus.liedgens@ipw.agrl.ethz.ch
This paper originates from a presentation at the 1st International Plant Phenomics Symposium, Canberra, Australia, April 2009.
Functional Plant Biology 36(11) 930-937 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP09125
Submitted: 29 May 2009 Accepted: 3 August 2009 Published: 5 November 2009
Abstract
Roots take up most of the resources required by a plant, but a lack of efficient research tools hinders our understanding of the function and relevance of the root system. This is especially evident when the research focus is not on a single plant, but on multiple plants that share the same soil resources. None of the available methods allow for simple, inexpensive, non-destructive, and objective assignment of observed roots in a mixture of plants to a target plant. Here, we demonstrate that transgenic plants expressing the green fluorescent protein (GFP), combined with the well established minirhizotron technique, is a route to overcoming this limitation. We planted transgenic maize (Zea mays L.) in combination with either its corresponding wild type, Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), or soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). Identification of fluorescent roots allows the relative distribution of roots of each plant type and their interaction and interference with each other to be observed. The selected plants are suitable for model experiments to unravel fundamental belowground ecological processes. Because genetic transformation of plants is an established technique that can be applied to a large set of plant species, this method will be of interest to a broad range of research areas.
Additional keywords: imaging system, minirhizotron, root research methodology, root interactions.
Acknowledgements
We thank Dr Christoph Sautter and Dr Stefan Otto Peter for transforming the maize plants for our research. The assistance of Mr Patrick Flütsch was essential for adaptation of the imaging system. This project was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant 3100A0–112634).
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