43. Gartenbauwissenschaftliche Tagung - (DGG) und des

Technik
The Potential of Neutron and X-ray imaging to Observe Water Transport
in Plants
U. Matsushima 1 , Y. Kawabata 2 , N. Kardjilov 3 und W.B. Herppich 4
1
Iwate Univ, Faculty of Agriculture, 3-18-8, Ueda, Morioka, Iwate 020-8550, Japan,
uzuki@iwate-u.ac.jp
2
Kyoto University, Faculty of Engineering, Dept of Nuclear Engineering, Kumatori-cho,
Sennan-gun, Osaka 590-04, Japan
3
Hahn-Meitner-Instituts, Abt. SF3, Glienicker Str. 100, 14109 Berlin
4
Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik Potsdam-Bornim e.V., Abt. Technik im Gartenbau,
Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam
Water stress suppresses plant growth, because plant cell division is fueled by water. Thus water
transport in plants is a good indicator of plant growth and metabolism. Existing methods of
obtaining water transport in plant, such as pressure probe and MRI, have a macroscopic point
of view otherwise their field of view is too small.
However, 3D imaging of neutron and X-ray have a high resolution and a relatively large field
of view. These methods should be excellent tools to observe the full scale of water transport
in plants. It would solve an interesting question of how water stress at a part of a plant affects
the whole plant.
We introduced a trial application of a D2O probe for neutron radiography, to observe water
transport in tomato seedlings. Also the potential of neutron and X-ray imaging as an observation
method of water transport in plants was discussed.
BHGL – Tagungsband 24/2006
147