Abstract
Performing accurate measurements of photosynthetic and respiration rates is vital to a large proportion of plant-based studies. While several commercial systems exist to perform such measurements, few are ideal for whole-plant measurements of small herbaceous plants such as Arabidopsis and none offer the capacity for simultaneous analysis of multiple plants. We, therefore, designed a multi-chamber, computer-controlled, infrared gas analyzer-coupled system for the continuous measurement of gas exchange in whole-plant shoots or rosettes. This system was called ETH Gas Exchange System-1 (EGES-1). We have subsequently expanded the device to accommodate a wider variety of species while providing precise control over environmental parameters. Critically, we have (1) increased the flow rates through each of the eight chambers, (2) introduced a computer-controlled feedback loop for the precise introduction of CO2, and (3) added an additional feedback loop for the introduction and control of humidity. The advantages of this new system (EGES-2) are illustrated here in the context of a variety of physiological experiments.
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to Daniel Carrera and Elisabeth Truernit for their advice and assistance.
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1 Electronic Supplementary Material
Supplemental File 1
A spreadsheet showing the output data generated by EGES-2 as well as the calculations required in order to convert ΔCO2 and ΔH2O values to assimilation and transpiration rates (XLSX 64 kb)
Supplemental File 2
Data analysis software for EGES-2 (ZIP 958355 kb)
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George, G.M., Kölling, K., Kuenzli, R., Hirsch-Hoffmann, M., Flütsch, P., Zeeman, S.C. (2018). Design and Use of a Digitally Controlled Device for Accurate, Multiplexed Gas Exchange Measurements of the Complete Foliar Parts of Plants. In: Covshoff, S. (eds) Photosynthesis. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1770. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7786-4_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7786-4_3
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