PHYTOTRON AND GREENHOUSE SERVICE

Section Greenhouse and culture chambers

Cultivation area

• Greenhouse

The curtain-wall glass greenhouse, with a surface area of 66 m2 x 4.5 m high, is equipped with 4 mobile tables for crops, a humidification system (fog-system), air conditioning, shading system using screens Aluminum filters with automated folding and unfolding mechanism and lighting. It is also equipped with a meteorological station made up of temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation sensors to control environmental condition

Plant cultivation in greenhouse 

• Phytotrons

There are two independent phytotron chambers measuring 15.4 m2 x 2 m in height each, intended for the growth and cultivation of plants with precise control of environmental conditions. Phytotron chambers offer the possibility of supplying a high intensity of light, of enriching the atmosphere with CO2, of carrying out experiments at extreme temperatures, as well as regulating the RH and the photoperiod. Phytotrons have an aseptic system combining induced overpressures and HEPA filters.

Plant cultivation in phytotrons

• Cultivation condition management programme

The climate control and management system of the greenhouse and the phytotron chambers is centralized from a PC with the specific management program, designed for research centers, which records all the environmental conditions of plant cultivation.

Plant matter handling area

The installations are equipped with 2 small attached laboratories which are quite distinct from each other and are in turn equipped with a scientific infrastructure.

• The preparatory room is intended for the preparation of crops, substrates and nutrient and irrigation solutions. It is equipped with a precision balance, water deionization equipment, pH meter, pipettes and stirrers.
• The analytical room is a small laboratory that has the necessary material for the handling, harvesting of the experimental material, conservation and its processing, as well as the performance of certain physiological measurements. It is equipped with a precision balance, pH meter, pipettes, stirrers, liquid nitrogen containers, refrigerator and -20 ° C freezer.

Ion Chromatography Section

The DIONEX ICS-5000 + ion chromatograph has conductivity, amperometry and ultraviolet-visible detection, high pressure pump to work in isocratic and gradient conditions, reaction coil for derivatization and with very small particle columns to work at high pressure improving peak resolution and analysis efficiency with shorter work times. The comprehensive management of the analysis and treatment of the chromatographic signals obtained is carried out with the Chromeleon software version 7.1.

Regarding the preparation and injection, the equipment has an automatic eluent generator which allows a much faster, more versatile and error-free sample preparation, and an autosampler with automatic dilution options for the injection of samples.

This equipment is used for the analysis of organic and inorganic anions and cations (detection by conductivity) and carbohydrates and their phosphorylated, carboxylated, amino derivatives, etc. (detection by HPAE-PAD pulse amperometry), Cr VI, nitrite, nitrate, bromate, iodide, etc. (UV-VIS detection) in samples of different nature (biological, pharmaceutical, food or environmental, among others).