"Live-autoradiography" technique reveals genetic variation in the rate of Fe uptake by barley cultivars

Higuchi, Kyoko*; Kurita, Keisuke  ; Sakai, Takuro; Suzui, Nobuo*; Sasaki, Minori*; Katori, Maya*; Wakabayashi, Yuna*; Majima, Yuta*; Saito, Akihiro*; Oyama, Takuji*; Kawachi, Naoki*

Genetic diversity in the rate of Fe uptake by plants has not been broadly surveyed among plant species or genotypes, although plants have developed various Fe acquisition mechanisms. We adopted the "Live-autoradiography" technique with radioactive Fe to directly evaluate the uptake rate of Fe by barley cultivars from a nutrient solution containing a very low concentration of Fe. Our observations revealed that the ability to acquire Fe from the low Fe solution was not always the sole determinant of tolerance to Fe deficiency among the barley genotypes.