This seed sterilization technique is good for quickly sterilizing seed batches of Arabidopsis thaliana before putting them in a petri dish to grow. Keep in mind that although sterilization is best practice, the quality of the actual seeds play a big role in susceptibility to contamination.
Purpose: to reduce contamination during experiments
Materials needed: 70% ethanol, microcentrifuge tubes, pipettes, filter paper
Protocol
- If your Arabidopsis thaliana seeds aren’t already in a microcentrifuge tube, carefully funnel your seeds into one.
- If you’re using multiple types of Arabidopsis (mutants or different ecotypes), take care to label the tubes.
- Use your pipette to carefully dispense a moderate amount of 70% diluted ethanol onto the seeds.
- Let the seeds sit in ethanol for about 2 minutes. Feel free to give the tube a shake. Then let the seeds settle to the bottom of the tube.
- Use the pipette to remove as much ethanol as you can, but not the seeds.
- Add a second wash of ethanol.
- Remove the seeds by sucking up the ethanol and seed solution.
- Dispense the seeds and ethanol onto filter paper so they are ready to sow.
