Development of an infiltration-based RNA preservation method for cryogen-free storage of leaves for gene expression analyses in field-grown plants

This study showed that the developed infiltration method was effective in preserving the transcriptome status of rice and sorghum leaves when liquid nitrogen or a deep freezer is not available. The developed method was useful for diagnosing plants in the field based on the expression of nutrient-responsive marker genes. Moreover, the method used to protect RNA samples from degradation during transportation offers the possibility to use them for RNA-seq. This novel technique could pave the way for revealing the molecular basis of plant phenotypes by accelerating gene expression analyses using plant samples that are unique in the field.