Flip-flop method: A new T1-weighted flow-MRI for plants studies

PLoS One. 2018 Mar 29;13(3):e0194845. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194845. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

The climate warming implies an increase of stress of plants (drought and torrential rainfall). The understanding of plant behavior, in this context, takes a major importance and sap flow measurement in plants remains a key issue for plant understanding. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) which is well known to be a powerful tool to access water quantity can be used to measure moving water. We describe a novel flow-MRI method which takes advantage of inflow slice sensitivity. The method involves the slice selectivity in the context of multi slice spin echo sequence. Two sequences such as a given slice is consecutively inflow and outflow sensitive are performed, offering the possiblility to perform slow flow sensitive imaging in a quite straigthforward way. The method potential is demonstrated by imaging both a slow flow measurement on a test bench (as low as 10 μm.s-1) and the Poiseuille's profile of xylemian sap flow velocity in the xylematic tissues of a tomato plant stem.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Climate Change
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
  • Solanum lycopersicum / metabolism*
  • Solanum lycopersicum / physiology
  • Stress, Physiological
  • Water / metabolism

Substances

  • Water

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Labex NUMEV (contract numbers: ANR-10-LABX-20) through 2 projects funding: AAP 2013-2-021 and AAP 2014 026) and Agropolis fondation in the context of Advanced Plant Life Imaging project (contract 1504-005).