|
|
Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Feb 18, 2018 3:56:29 GMT -5
I'm surprised i didn't mention those germicidal units before! But yeah, those should work. If they are germicidal then they should be UVC and the correct wavelength. Yeah the ones for Petri dishes and bacteria / fungal should work quite well.
The real question is whether you can find them cheap. I'm thinking ebay might be the way to go on that.
I recently picked up a pcr thermocycler worth $150-200 for something like $40 max with shipping, probably less. The seller did not have any way of knowing if it worked so i got it super el cheapo. And yes it works perfectly. I have yet to use ot yet though as pcr is still a little over my head with reagents and stuff.
There is also a "CSU Surplus" at the local science university where they get rid of old equipment on a regular basis. Sometimes you can find good stuff for cheap there too! I got used electrophoresis power supply and a micropipette cheap.
|
|
|
|
Post by nicollas on Feb 18, 2018 5:02:14 GMT -5
They seems in the range of 50-100$ which is fine for me for being able to do mutation breeding  |
|
|
|
Post by darrenabbey on Feb 26, 2018 14:15:46 GMT -5
I'm really hoping to do some experiments this year to see if UV really is useful for this concept. I've been setting up a basement area for use as a lab, but I'm not quite there yet.
|
|
|
|
Post by darrenabbey on Feb 27, 2018 2:05:16 GMT -5
An alternate approach to generating UV for anyone interested in playing around with this concept is to use a surplus lab-grade UV-transilluminator ( www.minershop.com/technology/diy-projects/transilluminators/). I've been setting up a lab for various projects and the other day I realized I had two UV-transilluminators. One will remain dedicated for the original goal of DNA gel work, but the second is probably going to be retrofitted for seed treatment. It produces far more UV-C output than the microwave I retrofitted. The only issue it has is there is no timer built in, for easily controlling exposure times. This is an easily remedied limitation. |
|
|
|
Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Feb 27, 2018 2:13:34 GMT -5
will keep my eye out for cheap surplus UV-based transilluminators from the local university surplus shop and occasional visits.
Excited to see you experiment with this.
|
|
|
|
Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jan 4, 2019 7:46:13 GMT -5
I would love to see this topic restarted on the new OSSI forum. Or to see it renewed and revived here!
|
|
|
|
Post by jocelyn on Jan 4, 2019 11:17:13 GMT -5
Anybody interested in a thought experiment? Say one wanted to mutate sweet chestnut to up regulate a pathway that might lead to blight resistance.
How to? Wait till a chestnut seedlot has radicles and the plumules are just starting to show. Wrap the nut in tin foil so that the plumule is the only exposed part and pop in a lab sterilizer, UVC emmitting.....now what? Cook them in the sterilizer (irradiate) till you kill some, plant the rest.
Want to play?
|
|
|
|
Post by darrenabbey on Jan 14, 2019 21:53:42 GMT -5
UV penetration into that thick of tissue might be a problem, but otherwise that's the idea. If you've got somewhere to grow out hundreds/thousands of chestnuts, it is something you could do. Ideally you would inoculate any surviving seedlings with the blight before they got too large, rather than wait for the blight to show up naturally.
|
|
|
|
Post by jocelyn on Jan 17, 2019 7:23:20 GMT -5
How thick a plant material do you think the UV would penetrate?
There is about half a day where the petioles of the cotylydons
lengthen and the plumule is exposed and is still a fairly tiny nub.
The epicotyle doesn't lengthen right away.
I can't innocculate as I'm in a blight free area.
I can give out treated seedlings to the rest of the Nut Growers,
if there is any interest. Some of the Maritime growers are dealing with blight.
|
|
|
|
Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jan 17, 2019 14:29:26 GMT -5
So, it looks like there are many uv-c germicidal bulbs on google shopping now. I am considering jumping in on this project.
How well would it penetrate pea seeds? Would it work better on sprouts / just germinating plants? Better on smaller seeds like lettuce, radish, etc.? Would scarrification need to be done to scrape away seed coats? And how long a dose to kill 50%?
There is a device called "8L UV Electric Beauty Salon Tool Sterilizer Cabinet" that looks very affordable online.
|
|
|
|
Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jan 19, 2019 0:29:28 GMT -5
So it's frustrating that there is not a lot of literature on the subject and not very understandable or applicable for what is.
It seems some say uv-c is not very effective at causing many mutations, but perhaps that is a false idea because most uv-c is filtered out in our atmosphere. Some literature says uv-b is very mutagenic and goes through thicker tissue.
And then there is this thing called photorepair? I guess if left in sunlight mutated DNA often repairs itself, so darkness after mutation might be best.
I'm thinking I might buy that 70$ nail salon uv-c toaster thing and modify it with 4 expensive 11$ LEDs that also put out uv-b. Uv-b helps fruit ripen better and I've wanted to create a fruit ripening box for some time anyway. The combination of uv-c and uv-b might be a good idea for mutation breeding. But it sounds like lots of F2 grow out would be needed to find point recessive mutations.
|
|
|
|
Post by darrenabbey on Jan 19, 2019 13:45:51 GMT -5
So, it looks like there are many uv-c germicidal bulbs on google shopping now. I am considering jumping in on this project. How well would it penetrate pea seeds? Would it work better on sprouts / just germinating plants? Better on smaller seeds like lettuce, radish, etc.? Would scarrification need to be done to scrape away seed coats? And how long a dose to kill 50%? There is a device called "8L UV Electric Beauty Salon Tool Sterilizer Cabinet" that looks very affordable online. The smaller the seed, the more likely such exposure would work. With something like beans/peas/squash/etc, it wouldn't matter how much UV exposure they received. For those, you could probably dissect away one of the cotyledens to expose the embryo. I haven't tested this process. |
|
|
|
Post by darrenabbey on Jan 19, 2019 13:50:11 GMT -5
And then there is this thing called photorepair? I guess if left in sunlight mutated DNA often repairs itself, so darkness after mutation might be best. For a mutation to be set, DNA repair has to take place. Sometimes it will be repaired to how it was originally, but sometimes not. For any of this to work, the seed has to be metabolically active. Soaking the seeds in water a day or so before UV treatment, to start them towards germination, might be a good idea. Like anything in this arena, you'll probably have to do some experiments to see what works best. It would probably be a good idea to test in the light vs in the dark after treatment. |
|
|
|
Post by darrenabbey on Jan 19, 2019 13:52:53 GMT -5
How thick a plant material do you think the UV would penetrate? There is about half a day where the petioles of the cotylydons lengthen and the plumule is exposed and is still a fairly tiny nub. The epicotyle doesn't lengthen right away. I can't innocculate as I'm in a blight free area. I can give out treated seedlings to the rest of the Nut Growers, if there is any interest. Some of the Maritime growers are dealing with blight. I haven't found any good information about UV penetration into plant tissue. Even if you can't test for blight in your area, any surviving seedlings will likely have some new mutations that could be useful for various things. |
|
|
|
Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jan 19, 2019 18:59:28 GMT -5
|
|
