Chapter 5 194 5.4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We want to express our gratitude to Dr. Peter Etchells to provide Arabidopsis lines for testing, and guidance in stem structure identification. 5.5 MATERIALS AND METHODS 5.5.1 Germination We initiated the germination for S. lycopersicum seeds cv Moneymaker, Capsicum annuum, Solanum melongena, Ocimum basilicum (obtained from Intratuin B.V), Pisum sativum Cameor (obtained from Dr. Judith Burstin lab) and Glycine max (cv green shell) (obtained from https://www.dehobbytuinder.nl/) by placing them in sealed plastic containers lined with paper towels soaked in tap water for one week. After this germination period, seedlings of uniform size were transplanted into 7 cm square pots filled with sieved Primasta® soil. Approximately one week following the transfer, we randomly allocated the plants into two distinct groups and subjected them to either white light (WL) or supplemental far-red light (WL+FR) treatments. Arabidopsis thaliana seeds of the Colombia-0 (Col-0) accession, as well as Brassica nigra seeds provided by Dr. Chrysoula K. Pantazopoulou, were used in this study. These seeds were sown directly into soil, underwent a stratification period of 3 days in darkness at 4°C, and were subsequently transferred to controlled growth rooms. These growth rooms had the conditions: LD: 16 hours of light, 8 hours of darkness, SD: 8 hours of light, 11 hours of darkness a photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) of 150 μmol·m−2·s−1, an R/ FR ratio of 2.0, a temperature of 20°C, and a relative humidity of 70%. Following a 7-day growth period, the seedlings were transplanted into 70 mL pots containing Primasta® soil. At the age of approximately 2 months, these plants were employed in inflorescence stem elongation experiments, commencing when the inflorescence reached approximately 0.5 cm to 2 cm in length. All experimental procedures were initiated at 10:30 AM. 5.5.2 Light conditions The seedlings were cultivated at a temperature of 20°C, maintaining a humidity level of 70%, under a 16-hour light/8-hour dark cycle. The experiment incorporated two different light conditions: white light (WL) and far-red (WL+FR). In the WL conditions, the light intensity measured 200 PAR (photosynthetically active radiation). In contrast, the WL+FR conditions involved a light intensity of 200 PAR in white light supplemented with additional far-red light to achieve a specific red-light to far-red light ratio (R:FR) of 0.20.
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