In Vivo Imaging and Quantification of Carbon Tracer Dynamics in Nodulated Root Systems of Pea Plants
Legumes associate with root colonizing rhizobia that provide fixed nitrogen to its plant host in exchange for recently fixed carbon. There is a lack of understanding of how individual plants modulate carbon allocation to a nodulated root system as a dynamic response to abiotic stimuli. One reason is...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Plants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/5/632 |
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| author | Ralf Metzner Antonia Chlubek Jonas Bühler Daniel Pflugfelder Ulrich Schurr Gregor Huber Robert Koller Siegfried Jahnke |
| author_facet | Ralf Metzner Antonia Chlubek Jonas Bühler Daniel Pflugfelder Ulrich Schurr Gregor Huber Robert Koller Siegfried Jahnke |
| author_sort | Ralf Metzner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Legumes associate with root colonizing rhizobia that provide fixed nitrogen to its plant host in exchange for recently fixed carbon. There is a lack of understanding of how individual plants modulate carbon allocation to a nodulated root system as a dynamic response to abiotic stimuli. One reason is that most approaches are based on destructive sampling, making quantification of localised carbon allocation dynamics in the root system difficult. We established an experimental workflow for routinely using non-invasive Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to follow the allocation of leaf-supplied <sup>11</sup>C tracer towards individual nodules in a three-dimensional (3D) root system of pea (<i>Pisum sativum</i>). Nitrate was used for triggering a reduction of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), which was expected to rapidly affect carbon allocation dynamics in the root-nodule system. The nitrate treatment led to a decrease in <sup>11</sup>C tracer allocation to nodules by 40% to 47% in 5 treated plants while the variation in control plants was less than 11%. The established experimental pipeline enabled for the first time that several plants could consistently be labelled and measured using <sup>11</sup>C tracers in a PET approach to quantify C-allocation to individual nodules following a BNF reduction. Our study demonstrates the strength of using <sup>11</sup>C tracers in a PET approach for non-invasive quantification of dynamic carbon allocation in several growing plants over several days. A major advantage of the approach is the possibility to investigate carbon dynamics in small regions of interest in a 3D system such as nodules in comparison to whole plant development. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:26:31Z |
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| id | doaj.art-bff57e318a144b0dbfaa2c8263cd73a5 |
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| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:26:31Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-bff57e318a144b0dbfaa2c8263cd73a52023-11-23T23:35:47ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472022-02-0111563210.3390/plants11050632In Vivo Imaging and Quantification of Carbon Tracer Dynamics in Nodulated Root Systems of Pea PlantsRalf Metzner0Antonia Chlubek1Jonas Bühler2Daniel Pflugfelder3Ulrich Schurr4Gregor Huber5Robert Koller6Siegfried Jahnke7IBG-2: Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Str., 52425 Julich, GermanyIBG-2: Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Str., 52425 Julich, GermanyIBG-2: Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Str., 52425 Julich, GermanyIBG-2: Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Str., 52425 Julich, GermanyIBG-2: Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Str., 52425 Julich, GermanyIBG-2: Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Str., 52425 Julich, GermanyIBG-2: Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Str., 52425 Julich, GermanyIBG-2: Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Str., 52425 Julich, GermanyLegumes associate with root colonizing rhizobia that provide fixed nitrogen to its plant host in exchange for recently fixed carbon. There is a lack of understanding of how individual plants modulate carbon allocation to a nodulated root system as a dynamic response to abiotic stimuli. One reason is that most approaches are based on destructive sampling, making quantification of localised carbon allocation dynamics in the root system difficult. We established an experimental workflow for routinely using non-invasive Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to follow the allocation of leaf-supplied <sup>11</sup>C tracer towards individual nodules in a three-dimensional (3D) root system of pea (<i>Pisum sativum</i>). Nitrate was used for triggering a reduction of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), which was expected to rapidly affect carbon allocation dynamics in the root-nodule system. The nitrate treatment led to a decrease in <sup>11</sup>C tracer allocation to nodules by 40% to 47% in 5 treated plants while the variation in control plants was less than 11%. The established experimental pipeline enabled for the first time that several plants could consistently be labelled and measured using <sup>11</sup>C tracers in a PET approach to quantify C-allocation to individual nodules following a BNF reduction. Our study demonstrates the strength of using <sup>11</sup>C tracers in a PET approach for non-invasive quantification of dynamic carbon allocation in several growing plants over several days. A major advantage of the approach is the possibility to investigate carbon dynamics in small regions of interest in a 3D system such as nodules in comparison to whole plant development.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/5/632<sup>11</sup>Cbiological nitrogen fixationlegumesnitrate inhibitionPETradiotracer |
| spellingShingle | Ralf Metzner Antonia Chlubek Jonas Bühler Daniel Pflugfelder Ulrich Schurr Gregor Huber Robert Koller Siegfried Jahnke In Vivo Imaging and Quantification of Carbon Tracer Dynamics in Nodulated Root Systems of Pea Plants Plants <sup>11</sup>C biological nitrogen fixation legumes nitrate inhibition PET radiotracer |
| title | In Vivo Imaging and Quantification of Carbon Tracer Dynamics in Nodulated Root Systems of Pea Plants |
| title_full | In Vivo Imaging and Quantification of Carbon Tracer Dynamics in Nodulated Root Systems of Pea Plants |
| title_fullStr | In Vivo Imaging and Quantification of Carbon Tracer Dynamics in Nodulated Root Systems of Pea Plants |
| title_full_unstemmed | In Vivo Imaging and Quantification of Carbon Tracer Dynamics in Nodulated Root Systems of Pea Plants |
| title_short | In Vivo Imaging and Quantification of Carbon Tracer Dynamics in Nodulated Root Systems of Pea Plants |
| title_sort | in vivo imaging and quantification of carbon tracer dynamics in nodulated root systems of pea plants |
| topic | <sup>11</sup>C biological nitrogen fixation legumes nitrate inhibition PET radiotracer |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/5/632 |
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