Root preparation technique and storage affect results of seedling quality evaluation in Norway spruce

Root recovery and elemental composition in a perennial grass as affected by soaking conditions

“…A previous study also reported that fine root N concentration was unaffected by root preparation methods (roots rinsed in tap water, deionised water, or prepared dry, immediately after sampling) (Rytter & Rytter, 2010). Root C concentrations (424.7 g C kg -1 DM on average across treatments) in our study were also in the expected range of values (Janzen et al, 2002).…”

“…The average root N concentration across treatments (15.7 g kg −1 DM), for which the effect of soaking solutions was nonsignificant ( p > .05), was very close to previously reported values for unstained timothy roots at first cut (13.5 g N kg −1 DM in growth chambers [Bertrand et al., 2014] and 15.7 g N kg −1 DM in a field experiment [Berglund et al., 2018]). A previous study also reported that fine root N concentration was unaffected by root preparation methods (roots rinsed in tap water, deionized water, or prepared dry, immediately after sampling) (Rytter & Rytter, 2010). Root C concentrations (424.7 g C kg −1 DM on average across treatments) in our study were also in the expected range of values (Janzen et al., 2002).…”

“…Root sampling was evenly distributed by dividing the field site into six blocks and randomly selecting and sampling one block per week from the second week of June until the third week of July 2017. Given the significant time requirements to process the root samples, we used different sampling times (a) to avoid freezing the samples because freezing can negatively affect dry root biomass recovered after washing (Price & Heitschmidt, 1989) and root elemental analysis (Misra, 1994) by causing cell leakage (Clemensson‐Lindell & Persson, 1992; Rytter & Rytter, 2010), (b) to minimize duration of storage at 4 °C because carbon losses by respiration and microbial degradation can occur (Freschet et al., 2020), and (c) to limit to 2 d the period during which the washed root samples are submerged in a methanol solution before root scanning because longer exposure to wet conditions can induce nutrient losses (Misra, 1994). Each block was 3 m by 5 m in size.…”

“…All roots were assumed to belong to timothy. Since the root washer was connected to the municipal water supply, tap water quality was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS, model NexION, PerkinElmer, Waltham, MA, USA) to document the risk of element contamination (Rytter & Rytter, 2010). Average concentrations in major elements in water (mg L -1 ) were: P = 0.09, K = 0.94, Ca = After separation from the soil with the hydroelute system, roots isolated on the secondary sieve were immersed in tap water and separated from other organic debris by flotation (Schuurman & Goedewaagen, 1971;Bolinder et al, 1997Bolinder et al, , 2002, stored in a methanol solution (10% v/v, at 4°C; Dowdy et al, 1995), and placed in the refrigerator (4ºC) for up to 2 days, pending digitization.…”

Development of a molecular test to determine the vitality status of Norway spruce (Picea abies) seedlings during frozen storage

“…Examples of methods used to detect disturbances within the seedling are electrical methods using electrolytic conductance (McKay 1992;L'Hirondelle et al 2006), color or spectrophotometric determinations using triphenyl tetrazolium chloride reduction (Parker 1953;Lassheikki et al 1991) or ninhydrin-reactive compounds (Wiest et al 1976;Bigras and Calmé 1994), xylem pressure potential methods (Waring and Cleary 1967;McCreary 1984), measures of stomatal conductance and photosynthesis (Lindström 1986;Delucia 1987), infrared thermography (Ö rlander et al 1989), chlorophyll fluorescence (L' Hirondelle. et al 2006) and measurement of seedling nutrient status (Rytter and Rytter 2010). Despite a relatively large selection of physiological methods nurseries still commonly practice regrowth tests (Mattsson 1986;1991) for vitality control.…”