Fig. 7

Overview of the method for establishing an SRS in young Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. The de-rooting procedure (a) was done by cutting the main root of the seedling with a scalpel (1), leaving around 0.5 cm attached to the hypocotyl (2). The plants were then allowed to re-root, generating plants with either symmetric (3) or asymmetric (4) root systems. The roots of the latter can be trimmed with a scalpel or micro-cutting scissors, thus leaving a symmetric root system (5). Those plants with symmetric root systems (3 and 5) are suitable for transplant into petri dishes (b), either with plastic spacers (centre) or without them (left), or into custom pots (c). Pot-based SRSs can be used in drought studies, since they allow the application of water-soluble compounds to one side of the root system, which can later be cut (bottom left), leaving the plants growing on the water-deprived soil (right)