Non-invasive water flow imaging in roots at cell resolution - FSPM2023

Slides from FSPM2023 talk March 28th 2023 by Valentin Couvreur

Abstract:  A key impediment to studying water-related mechanisms in plants is the  inability to non-invasively image water fluxes in cells at high temporal  and spatial resolution. Here, we report that Raman microspectroscopy,  complemented by hydrodynamic modelling, can achieve this goal -  monitoring hydrodynamics within living root tissues at cell- and  sub-second-scale resolutions. Raman imaging of water-transporting xylem  vessels in Arabidopsis thaliana mutant roots reveals faster xylem  water transport in endodermal diffusion barrier mutants. Furthermore,  transverse line scans across the root suggest water transported via the  root xylem does not re-enter outer root tissues nor the surrounding soil  when en-route to shoot tissues if endodermal diffusion barriers are intact, thereby separating ‘two water worlds’.