PHYTOTRON AND GREENHOUSE SERVICE
Introduction
The main aim of the "Plant matter cultivation under controlled conditions: phytotron and greenhouse" Service, which is attached to the Advanced Research Facilities (SGIker) at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), is to lend support to research and other scientific purposes, including university teaching.
The objectives of the Service are the cultivation of plant material and experimentation with soils for research, for scientific, technological and educational purposes, under controlled conditions and the determination of analytes by Ion Chromatography in biological, pharmaceutical, food or environmental samples, among other.
The service also provides scientific-technical advice on matters related to crops of plant species and ion chromatography to the university community and other public or private organizations that request its services
Within the Service there are two differentiated sections: Section Chambers of Culture and Greenhouse and Section of Ion Chromatography.
Cultivation Chambers and Greenhouse Section
The activities developed in this section are related to the cultivation of a wide variety of plant species (extendable to in vitro culture, algae cultures and soil incubations), with different types of substrates (hydroponic, soils, substrate cultivation, etc. ) and in a wide range of growth and incubation conditions. In addition, the different environmental parameters, both atmospheric (temperature, light, humidity, etc.), as well as edaphic (soil humidity, salinity, etc.) and nutritional conditions are controlled. Phytotrons allow to simulate extreme weather conditions of cooling, high temperatures, photoinhibition conditions, drought, climate change, etc.
Ion Chromatography Section
The analytical determination of cations, organic and inorganic anions and carbohydrates and Cr VI, among others, is carried out using a DIONEX ICS-5000 + ion chromatograph from the company Thermo Fisher Scientific. The equipment is equipped with a conductivity, amperometry and ultraviolet-visible detector and controlled by the Chromeleon version 7.1 program.