In most natural habitats, Arabidopsis is a winter annual: Its seeds germinate in the fall, the young plants survive the winter, floral meristems emerge in the spring, and only the seeds survive the summer months. Most common laboratory varieties of Arabidopsis flower within 4 weeks of germination, and seeds can be collected after an additional 4-6 weeks. - [Read Cultivation of Arabidopsis Protocol]
Arabidopsis naturally self-pollinates, the generation of cross-progeny requires some intervention by the investigator. This protocol describes the generation and collection of seeds by crossing suitable Arabidopsis parent plants. - [Read Setting Up Arabidopsis Crosses Protocol]
Tubulin is polymerized into microtubules by incubating tubulin at 37°C with GTP. A nucleation seed is added when the purpose is to assay microtubule elongation. Tubulin can also be polymerized for the purposes of recycling the tubulin or labeling the microtubules with fluorescently labeled tubulin. Based on the protocol by Timothy Mitchison of Harvard University.