Jan 17, 2012
Fax Service Resumed

The City of Round Rock is renovating the historic Chisholm Trail Road just down the block from our headquarters building and the existing telephone lines are being transferred to new cable.  In the process, our fax land line was "lost" for a couple hours today, but service was restored about 4:30 pm today by Ma Bell.  If you tried to fax us today and could not get through, try again now.

August 21, 2010
New Item - Cat. No. DV-30 Precision Swiss Clamping Tweezers for crossing Arabidopsis

Cat. No. DV-30 Precision Swiss Clamping Tweezers for Crossing Arabidopsis flowers

LEHLE SEEDS is happy to announce that we have added a new item to our catalog - Cat. no. DV-30 is a Precision Swiss Clamping Tweezers selected by LEHLE SEEDS for crossing Arabidopsis flowers. These unique tweezers are made by Rubis of Switzerland, a firm internationally recognized for their award winning designs and craftsmanship.  As such, the DV-30 is manufactured from the finest grades of stainless steel polished to a smooth satin finish with rough edge grooving for tweezers rigidity. Tips are ultra-fine.  Not satisfied with the best, LEHLE SEEDS includes some simple add-ons to the basic Rubis design, for setting tip gap limits, improved one-
handed clamping control and better on-edge handling which is our preferred orientation for Arabidopsis flower emasculation.

Click here for more on the DV-30.

August 21, 2010
So What Happened to Cat. No. DV-05 Custom Clamping Tweezers?

The DV-30 replaces our cat. no. DV-05 Custom Clamping Tweezers which, unfortunately, are no longer being made.  The clamp of the DV-05 was designed and made by Ernest Fullam Inc which regrettably closed its doors this past December after 57 years (and 2 generations) in business.  The company was founded in 1953 by Ernest F.and Barbara Fullam and focused on services and products for microscopy.  Ernest F. Fullam was a pioneer in electron microscopy in the United States, who in 1945 published with "Rockefeller [University] biologists Albert Caude and Keith Porter the first electron micrograph of an intact cell" (Rockerfeller University). Ernest was also a founding member of the Microscopy Society of America in 1942 and was present for its 50th anniversary meeting in 1992.  Ernest's son, Peter Fullam, took over reins of the firm in 1977 until its recent sale to Ted Pella Inc.  We here at LEHLE SEEDS will miss the Fullam's family service and contributions to the scientific community all these many years and wish Peter and his family well in their future endeavors. 

Fred Lehle, PhD. 

July 23, 2010
Normal Fax Service Resumes

Our primary fax line (1-512-388-3974) was  repaired today July 23, 2010 about 2:45 pm CST.  We have resumed normal fax service at 1-512-388-3974.

Fred Lehle, Ph.D.

March 23, 2010
Wire Transfer Payments - Change in Policy

For the last few years, LEHLE SEEDS's stated policy has been not to accept payment by bank wire transfers if the amount is less than $2,500.00 USD.  But due to relentless and widespread requests for this payment method despite our objections, LEHLE SEEDS, as of March 23, 2010, has amended its terms to allow payment by wire transfer for a Wire Transfer Processing Fee (WTP).

January 1, 2010
New Customs Documents Preparation Fee

Effective January 1, 2010, LEHLE SEEDS has instituted a new Customs Documentation Preparation (CDP) fee. The CDP fee will be a flat $35 and will be applied to all orders shipped to destinations outside the U.S. The change is necessary to correct a long-standing imbalance inherent in our "One World" product pricing policy. The imbalance arises because international orders require additional customs documentation not required of domestic orders. Hence, preparation of said customs documents incur significant internal staffing costs, which previously have not been properly accounted for.

August 2, 2009
New ArabiSifters Available for Sale. 

LEHLE SEEDS is pleased to announce that our newly redesigned cat. no. SNS-02 ArabiSifter floral sleeves have arrived and are ready for sale.  Originally introduced here as cat. no. SNS-01 ArabiSifter Floral Sleeves on April 3, 2007, this first generation of ArabiSifter ran into quality control issues in the summer of 2008.  To overcome this problem, LEHLE SEEDS literally searched the world to find a new sleeve manufacturer who could manufacture the ArabiSifter to our custom specifications.  The search was successful and the result is a unique floral sleeve specifically for Arabidopsis of consistent quality and novel utility - the new cat. no. SNS-02 ArabiSifter Floral Sleeve.

Figure 1.  LEHLE SEEDS cat. no. SNS-01 ArabiSifter floral sleeve on our square ArabiPot (see below) growing container.  24-day-old Columbia Col-0 Arabidopsis is shown growing on LEHLE SEEDS cat. no. PM-25-13 PMP Growing Medium.  Our new cat. no. SNS-02 sleeves are  similar except orientation of microperforations is lateral rows for more efficient sieving and sleeves accommodate taller plants.

Figure 2.  Close-up edge view of cat. no. SNS-01 ArabiSifter after being removed from mature plant showing Arabidopsis seeds being sieved from same ArabiSifter in which they were grown.  Note how ArabiSifter retains siliques and other plant residue while seeds easily fall through holes of shaken ArabiSifter.  In this photograph, the ArabiSifter had only been tapped gently once or twice prior to taking the  picture so seeds could be seen both before and after sieving.  Note line of accumulated seeds still inside the ArabiSifter.  These will readily sieve through the holes with more shaking.  New cat. no. SNS-02 provides improved performance over cat. no. SNS-01 sleeves with greatly increased uniformity in shape and size of mircoperforations.

LEHLE SEEDS has redesigned the new SNS-02 ArabiSifter in several ways.  First, we have changed the pattern of microperforations to that of repeated, single file rows to increase the speed and efficiency of seed sieving.  Second, we interspersed between the rows of microperforations, non-perforated strips to align the seeds during sieving and improve the overall sleeve strength as well as its light transmissibility.  Third, and most importantly, the microperforations are now sized to our tolerances to ensure consistent seed sieving.  Finally, we have increased the overall length of the new ArabiSifter sleeves by about 2 inches to accommodate taller inflorescences.  The redesigned ArabiSifter is so improved that we have assigned it the new catalog no. of SNS-02.  

LEHLE SEEDS is now offering the 2nd generation in its new innovation for flower containment and seed harvest of our own design.  We call it the ArabiSifter and have assigned it cat. no. SNS-02. Early users have reported to us that they really like using the ArabiSifter.  They also like the fact that the ArabiSifter is very affordable and makes seed cleaning during harvest much more convenient, since with the ArabiSifter, the sieve is disposable.

So what is the ArabiSifter?  The ArabiSifter is simply a flared, light-weight, transparent plastic floral sleeve that encloses an Arabidopsis plant or plants growing in either a round or square pot.  Similar to existing tubular enclosures, the ArabiSifter 1) provides support for your flowers and 2) acts as a physical barrier to prevent the flowers in one pot from entangling with those of another (Figure 1).

The ArabiSifter, however, goes a step further.  First, the unique design of the ArabiSifter is that each ArabiSifter is covered with thousands of small holes. Relative to a rigid, solid-walled tube, we believe the holes in the ArabiSifter as well as its flared top will facilitate better air and moisture circulation and better heat and ethylene dissipation in confined spaces such as in a growth room.  

But the real purpose of the holes in the ArabiSifter is to simplify seed cleaning and save time and labor at seed harvest.  The ArabiSifter accomplishes this by serving as a disposable seed sieve as follows.  The mature plant and enclosing ArabiSifter is cut from the pot at the base, and both open ends are stapled closed.  The plant material enclosed in the ArabiSifter is then gently shaken by hand over a large sheet of paper.  The shattered seeds fall through the holes which act to sieve the seeds from the retained plant residue (Figure 2).  Since each plant has its own disposable ArabiSifter sieve,  you save time by not having to clean and dry a permanent hand sieve between separate harvests.  If you have ever harvested a lot of separate Arabidopsis plants, you know cleaning a hand sieve between harvests is a major bottleneck.

As you know, rendering transgenic plant residue harmless before disposal is essential for regulatory compliance.  For its part, the ArabiSifter simplifies this process considerably.  Simply wrap your used ArabiSifters en masse with enclosed plant residue in folded aluminum foil and autoclave on the 10 min "wrap" cycle.  Place this in the trash and this portion of your transgenic waste disposal problem is complete.  Compliance this convenient is spelled A-r-a-b-i-S-i-f-t-e-r.

So what are some factors affecting sieving efficiency with the ArabiSifter?  First, your plants should be mature and ready for harvest.  This means the siliques are dry, have no green color left and readily shatter their seeds when disturbed.  Under these conditions, sieving efficiency with the ArabiSifter is greater the gentler the shaking.  More aggressive shaking and crushing of plant residue will cause more chaff and fines to end up in the seed fraction, just like with a metal hand sieve. Regardless of your method or technique, one pass through the ArabiSifter will free your seeds from the bulk of the plant residue.  

The ArabiSifter is sold in a standard box of 200 sleeves.  Inside the sleevers are packed into convenient, stacks of 50 sleeves that you tear-off one at a time. The flat dimensions are specified as 4" (10.2 cm; bottom edge) x 13.5" ( 34.3 cm; top edge) x 24" (60.9 cm; length).  Before using, simply cut the bottom edge of the ArabiSifter to fit your existing pot.  Trim the top edge to fit the height of your lighting system. The ArabiSifter fits a wide range of both round and square plots, from a 3" (7.6 cm) diameter round pot to our recommended square ArabiPot  (shown above).

The new cat. no. SNS-02 ArabiSifter Floral Sleeves are in stock and ready for shipment.  Call 1-512-388-3945 or fax (1-512-388-3974) your order.

Order Cat. no. SNS-02
 ArabiSifter 
Floral Sleeves for Arabidopsis

Quantity	Sale Price/box
200 (standard box)	$53.05
1,000 (economy 5 pack)	$196.93

Fred Lehle Ph.D.

Call 1-800-881-3945
 (Toll-free in USA)

Fax 1-512-388-3974

March 30, 2009
ArabiPot Update - New Organizer Insert, New Subirrigation Tray, New Cat. No. PTA-126

We have recently substantially reconfigured  the ArabiPot  cat. no. PTA-10.  We removed the deep open subirrigation tray and replaced it with two new components: 1) a new low -profile subirrigation tray of the same footprint and 2) a intermediate flat insert that organizes the 18 ArabiPots into a convenient array.  The new subirrigation tray prevents accidental overwatering by setting an upper limit on the amount of each irrigation.  The new insert keeps the ArabiPots neatly organized in an 3 x 6 array, something that was needed in the original configuration.   The insert has a perforated bottom, so irrigation added to any portion of the insert is immediately distributed equally in the lower tray.  If the growth space is available, the 3 x 6 array can be expanded with multiple trays (6 total) into the common 9 x 12 array. We designate this new configuration cat. no. PTA-126, which will consist of 126 ArabiPots, 7 organizer flat inserts and 7 subirrigation trays.  With the introduction of these new components, cat. no. PTA-10 will be retired. 

The rationale behind the need for the ArabiPot remains the same and is worth repeating here. Recent research  reminds us, that as the air-spaces or pores of a plant growth medium are reduced in average physical size, a greater proportion of medium at the bottom of the pot  becomes hypoxic and remains so longer following each subirrigation.  Water-holding capacity of a growing medium increases as its pore size decreases.  This is because water flow is reduced as the pore size becomes smaller.  

The relative low air-porosity of Arabidopsis media, composed of  perlite and peat moss with variable amounts of  vermiculite, has been rated fine (Passioura 2006).  As such, Arabidopsis roots, growing in the bottom 50-70 mm of medium, regardless of pot depth, are repeatedly subjected to severely reduced oxygen levels following routine subirrigation (Passioura 2006).  While it is common to grow Arabidopsis in containers as short as 2.25" (57 mm) in height, subirrigation under such conditions requires close monitoring to avoid prolonged root water-logging which quickly slows root tissue and can stunt whole Arabidopsis plant growth.

Fortunately, there is a simple solution to avoid water-logging and hypoxia in Arabidopsis roots and that is to grow Arabidopsis plants in a deeper pot and one holding as much medium volume as possible. This is standard horticultural practice for many potted plants (Pasian 2007). 

In a deeper pot, a greater percentage of the medium near the surface will always have more pores filled with air than those in the bottom of the pot.  This provides a top region where roots can grow without the danger of hypoxia.  Given the fine porosity of common Arabidopsis media, recent  research (Passioura 2006) suggests that a pot would need to be at least 120 mm deep to guard against the possibility of ever accidentally inducing complete hypoxic conditions throughout all a pot's growth medium.

Though counter-intuitive, square pots of the same footprint contain significantly more volume than round pots.  More medium volume increases the number of pores which improves root aeration.    Thus, given the fine air-porosity rating of Arabidopsis media, a taller square pot is much better for growth than a short round pot.  The ArabiPot is a 3.5" x 3.5" (89 x 89 mm) square pot which is a full 5" (127 mm) in depth. 

The ArabiPot  works with ARASYSTEM Aracons as well as our cat. no. SNS-01 ArabiSifter floral sleeves.  We recommend using the ArabiPot with either our cat. no. PM-15-13 AIS or cat. no. PM-25-13 PMP growing media for best results.  A single ArabiPot holds about 0.66 L of growing medium.  A box of PM-15-13 (or PM-25-13, 13 dry gallons each) will fill about 74 individual ArabiPots or 4 trays of ArabiPots (18 ArabiPots per tray).  Thus, you will need 2 boxes of either growing media to fill the 126 ArabiPots of cat. no. PTA-126. 
-------------
Pasian, CC (1997) The Ohio State University Fact Sheet HYG-1251-97 Physical Characteristics of Growing Mixes. OSU Horticulture and Crop Science  http://tinyurl.com/2cehv8

Passioura JB (2006) The perils of pot experiments.  Func. Plant Biol.33:1075-1079  

Order Cat. no. PTA-126
 ArabiPots, Organizer Flats & Subirrigation Trays for Arabidopsis

Quantity (box)	Price/box*
1	$66.00
*Box includes 126 pots, 7 Organizer Inserts & 7 low-porfile subirrigation trays

To place an order

Call 1-800-881-3945
 (Toll-free in USA)

Fax 1-512-388-3974

March 30, 2009
ARASYSTEM - Order It Before You Need It

We still are reminding our customers that during this period of global financial crisis, LEHLE SEEDS has been maintaining lower levels of ARASYSTEM  inventory available for sale.   As a consequence, kindly remember to place your ARASYSTEM orders well in advance - one to two months in advance.  This will help us deliver your ARASYSTEM on time, when you need it..

Fred Lehle, Ph.D.