title: Kinetics of mass and DNA decomposition in tomato leaves.
abstract: This laboratory study investigated the kinetics of leaf and DNA content decomposition in two varieties of tomato (Palmiro and Admiro) after incubation in soil for 35 days. Results revealed that the decrease of dry matter in leaves in both varieties did not follow a single exponential function and was better described by a double exponential model. Composite half-decrease times were 3.4 and 2.4 days for Palmiro and Admiro respectively. The same pattern was observed for DNA mass loss, although this was closer to a single exponential model with composite half-decrease times of 1.5 and 1.4 days. Genomic analysis showed that DNA in dried leaves at room temperature (not inoculated in the soil), remains intact or presents a weak degradation, and DNA extracted from leaves inoculated in non-sterile soil showed degradation after two days. These results indicate that before release an important quantity of DNA may be degraded inside plant tissues during decomposition in soil.
authors.affiliation: Institut F.-A. Forel, University of Geneva, 10 route de Suisse, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland. john.pote@terre.unige.ch
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poté
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rossé
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rosselli
authors.forename: Van Tran
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Van
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wildi
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000032:analysis*; D007700:Kinetics; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant