Growth Conditions for Arabidopsis
Rivero L, Scholl R, Holomuzki N, Crist D, Grotewold E, Brkljacic J. Handling Arabidopsis plants: growth, preservation of seeds, transformation, and genetic crosses. Methods Mol Biol. 2014;1062:3-25. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-580-4_1. PMID: 24057358.
Plants produce their first flowers within 4–5 weeks, and seeds can be harvested 8–10 weeks after planting.
Optimum light intensity is 120– 150 μmol/m 2 s. Higher intensities may result in death of some seedlings, but are tolerated by older plants; purpling of leaves is the first symptom of high-light stress. Very low light intensities may result in weak and chlorotic plants. Arabidopsis is a facultative Luz Rivero et al. 21 long-day plant. Plants flower rapidly under continuous light or long-day (>12 h) photoperiods, while under short days (<12 h), flowering is delayed, favoring vegetative growth. Plants grow well under a cycle of 16-h light/8-h dark or under continuous light.
Optimum temperature is 22–23 °C. Night temperatures should be maintained 2–4 °C lower than the day temperature. The temperature range for Arabidopsis growth is 16–25 °C. Lower temperatures are permissible, but higher temperatures are not recommended, especially for germination through early rosette development. Temperatures above 28 ºC are better tolerated by more mature plants (past early rosette stage). In general, high temperatures result in a reduced number of leaves, flowers, and seeds. At lower temperatures, growth is slow, favoring the vegetative phase, and flowering is delayed.
Plants tolerate low (20–30 %) relative humidity well, but depletion of soil moisture may occur in these conditions. Plant sterility may result from very high (>90 %) relative humidity. Mild humidity (50–60 %) is considered optimal for plant growth; however, low humidity (<50 %) is recommended for silique maturation.
Water from the bottom up once or twice a week until soil is saturated. Pour off any remaining standing water.
Plants should not be overwatered to avoid development of algae, fungi, fungus gnat larvae, and other pests who thrive on overly wet soil. Algae can be manually scraped off and the soil allowed to dry.
Osmocote ® 14-14-14 (14 % nitrogen, 14 % phosphate, 14 % potassium) is an extended time-release fertilizer, feeding up to 3 months from planting. Apply in amounts according to the label.
Vernalization (Species Dependent, A. thaliana flowers successfully without vernalization)
Some winter-annual natural accessions require a period of cold to initiate flowering, a process known as vernalization (e.g., Galdo-1, Monte-1, Cit-0, Dog-4, Istisu-1, Valsi-1, Mir0, Tamm-2). Young rosettes (2–4 weeks old) of late flowering accessions should be placed at 4 °C for 4–7 weeks to accelerate flowering.