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Updated: Jul 14, 2026
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Ice-Cap: A Method for Growing Arabidopsis and Tomato Plants in 96-well Plates for High-Throughput Genotyping
Published on: November 9, 2011
Protocol: An improved high-throughput method for generating tissue samples in 96-well format for plant genotyping
Katie A Clark1, Patrick J Krysan
1Genome Center of Wisconsin and Department of Horticulture, 1575 Linden Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA. kaszumlanski@wisc.edu
Plant Methods
|June 15, 2007
Summary
Improvements to the Ice-Cap system enhance Arabidopsis seedling growth and tissue collection for high-throughput genotyping. A new continuous watering system ensures more uniform growth and extends seedling viability.
Area of Science:
- Plant Science
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- The original Ice-Cap system facilitated high-throughput Arabidopsis seedling cultivation and tissue collection for DNA extraction and genotyping.
- However, optimal seedling growth in the initial Ice-Cap system was sensitive to environmental conditions, limiting its robustness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe technical improvements to the Ice-Cap method for enhanced robustness and utility.
- To provide a detailed protocol for the improved Ice-Cap system.
Main Methods:
- Development of a continuous watering system for seedling growth plates.
- Modification of the Ice-Cap system to allow lidless incubation during the growth period.
- Inclusion of wooden skewers to facilitate plate separation after freezing.
Main Results:
- The continuous watering system enabled more uniform and robust seedling growth compared to the original method.
- Seedlings grown with the improved Ice-Cap 2.0 method remained viable in plates twice as long.
- Easier separation of growth plates was achieved using wooden skewers.
Conclusions:
- The novel continuous watering system effectively addresses sub-optimal seedling growth issues in the original Ice-Cap system.
- The enhanced Ice-Cap 2.0 procedure offers improved robustness and utility for high-throughput plant research.
- These modifications optimize seedling cultivation for genetic analysis.
