Pinpointing the timing of meiosis: a critical factor in evaluating the impact of abiotic stresses on the fertility of cereal crops:

  • Summary: Identifying male reproductive stages, particularly the susceptible meiotic stage in cereals, is extremely challenging due to the spike, panicle or tassel forming within the developing sheath. We propose guidelines to standardise the sampling of cells during male reproductive stages, particularly when interrogating the impact of stress on meiosis.

A universal protocol for high-quality DNA and RNA isolation from diverse plant species:

  • Summary: The protocol is to isolate high-quality DNA and RNA simultaneously from various plant species, including recalcitrant plants. DNA or RNA isolated by this protocol can be used for high-throughput sequencing platforms. The protocol has been used to isolate either DNA or RNA from many plant species, demonstrating its reliability and reproducibility. Besides, it has been shown that the protocol is applicable for non-plant species, including bacterial strains, mites and yeast. Overall, this CTAB protocol has been optimised to overcome obstacles in nucleic acid isolation for plant scientists who find it difficult to isolate either DNA or RNA using current protocols or commercial alternatives.