Fusarium oxysporum Infection Assays in Arabidopsis

Increased susceptibility to Fusarium oxysporum is one of the most conspicuous characteristics of the Arabidopsis mutants lacking the heterotrimeric G protein β and γ1 subunits. The molecular mechanisms placing these G proteins in the plant innate immunity network are yet to be discovered. However, a method to test susceptibility to and disease progression of an important plant pathogen, such as F. oxysporum , is of central importance to many plant defense studies. The optimized protocol presented here allows the routine processing and analysis of symptom progression in young Arabidopsis soil-grown seedlings and yields highly reproducible results.