biologia plantarum

Biologia plantarum 10:409, 1968 | DOI: 10.1007/BF02920984

Contribution to the estimation of nucleic acids in wheat roots

Svatava Fialová¹

¹ Department of Plant Physiology and Soil Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, Praha

Several methods of NA isolation and estimation were examined in order to determine RNA in the whole root systems of young wheat plants. It was found out that during the hydrolysis of roots with perchloric acid according toOgur andRosen (1950),Spirin (1958) andHeitefuss (1965) a considerable amount of orcine-positive compounds is released which cannot be adequate to the RNA content. Therefore the separate RNA determination in the presence of DNA was excluded even after the NA fractionation by hydrolysis at various temperature and perchloric acid concentration. Besides NA hydrolysates contained a high amount of other compounds absorbing in the UV-region. Compounds interfering with both these methods were present especially in the basal parts of roots.
Using the method ofKern (1960) a nucleoprotein fraction was isolated containing about 75 per cent of the total NA content in the tissue. This fraction consisted of more than 90 per cent RNA combined with proteins, namely the ribosomal RNA. After the hydrolysis it could be estimated spectrophotometrically for the hydrolysate did not contain other compounds absorbing in the UV-region. In the root tips the content of this fraction was high in comparison with the basal parts of roots and it changed with the kind of nutrition.

Received: December 14, 1967; Published: November 1, 1968  Show citation