Fast x-ray fluorescence microtomography of hydrated biological samples.

Metals and metalloids play a key role in plant and other biological systems as some of them are essential to living organisms and all can be toxic at high concentrations. It is therefore important to understand how they are accumulated, complexed and transported within plants. In situ imaging of met...

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Main Authors: Enzo Lombi, Martin D de Jonge, Erica Donner, Peter M Kopittke, Daryl L Howard, Robin Kirkham, Chris G Ryan, David Paterson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3107226?pdf=render
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author Enzo Lombi
Martin D de Jonge
Erica Donner
Peter M Kopittke
Daryl L Howard
Robin Kirkham
Chris G Ryan
David Paterson
author_facet Enzo Lombi
Martin D de Jonge
Erica Donner
Peter M Kopittke
Daryl L Howard
Robin Kirkham
Chris G Ryan
David Paterson
author_sort Enzo Lombi
collection DOAJ
description Metals and metalloids play a key role in plant and other biological systems as some of them are essential to living organisms and all can be toxic at high concentrations. It is therefore important to understand how they are accumulated, complexed and transported within plants. In situ imaging of metal distribution at physiological relevant concentrations in highly hydrated biological systems is technically challenging. In the case of roots, this is mainly due to the possibility of artifacts arising during sample preparation such as cross sectioning. Synchrotron x-ray fluorescence microtomography has been used to obtain virtual cross sections of elemental distributions. However, traditionally this technique requires long data acquisition times. This has prohibited its application to highly hydrated biological samples which suffer both radiation damage and dehydration during extended analysis. However, recent advances in fast detectors coupled with powerful data acquisition approaches and suitable sample preparation methods can circumvent this problem. We demonstrate the heightened potential of this technique by imaging the distribution of nickel and zinc in hydrated plant roots. Although 3D tomography was still impeded by radiation damage, we successfully collected 2D tomograms of hydrated plant roots exposed to environmentally relevant metal concentrations for short periods of time. To our knowledge, this is the first published example of the possibilities offered by a new generation of fast fluorescence detectors to investigate metal and metalloid distribution in radiation-sensitive, biological samples.
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spelling doaj.art-6f2995f3a4fe4847b7e31f6cb9392e002022-12-22T00:48:22ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-01-0166e2062610.1371/journal.pone.0020626Fast x-ray fluorescence microtomography of hydrated biological samples.Enzo LombiMartin D de JongeErica DonnerPeter M KopittkeDaryl L HowardRobin KirkhamChris G RyanDavid PatersonMetals and metalloids play a key role in plant and other biological systems as some of them are essential to living organisms and all can be toxic at high concentrations. It is therefore important to understand how they are accumulated, complexed and transported within plants. In situ imaging of metal distribution at physiological relevant concentrations in highly hydrated biological systems is technically challenging. In the case of roots, this is mainly due to the possibility of artifacts arising during sample preparation such as cross sectioning. Synchrotron x-ray fluorescence microtomography has been used to obtain virtual cross sections of elemental distributions. However, traditionally this technique requires long data acquisition times. This has prohibited its application to highly hydrated biological samples which suffer both radiation damage and dehydration during extended analysis. However, recent advances in fast detectors coupled with powerful data acquisition approaches and suitable sample preparation methods can circumvent this problem. We demonstrate the heightened potential of this technique by imaging the distribution of nickel and zinc in hydrated plant roots. Although 3D tomography was still impeded by radiation damage, we successfully collected 2D tomograms of hydrated plant roots exposed to environmentally relevant metal concentrations for short periods of time. To our knowledge, this is the first published example of the possibilities offered by a new generation of fast fluorescence detectors to investigate metal and metalloid distribution in radiation-sensitive, biological samples.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3107226?pdf=render
spellingShingle Enzo Lombi
Martin D de Jonge
Erica Donner
Peter M Kopittke
Daryl L Howard
Robin Kirkham
Chris G Ryan
David Paterson
Fast x-ray fluorescence microtomography of hydrated biological samples.
PLoS ONE
title Fast x-ray fluorescence microtomography of hydrated biological samples.
title_full Fast x-ray fluorescence microtomography of hydrated biological samples.
title_fullStr Fast x-ray fluorescence microtomography of hydrated biological samples.
title_full_unstemmed Fast x-ray fluorescence microtomography of hydrated biological samples.
title_short Fast x-ray fluorescence microtomography of hydrated biological samples.
title_sort fast x ray fluorescence microtomography of hydrated biological samples
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3107226?pdf=render
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