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

Area of Science:

• Plant Physiology
• Biophysics
• Imaging Science

Background:

• Climate warming increases plant stress from drought and extreme rainfall.
• Understanding plant behavior under stress is critical.
• Sap flow measurement is key to plant physiological studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) method for measuring plant sap flow.
• To enable precise quantification of slow water movement in plants.
• To assess plant responses to environmental stressors.

Main Methods:

• A novel flow-MRI technique utilizing inflow slice sensitivity within a multi-slice spin echo sequence.
• Implementation of two sequences for consecutive inflow and outflow sensitivity in a given slice.
• Demonstration of slow flow-sensitive imaging capabilities.

Main Results:

• Successful measurement of slow flow rates as low as 10 μm.s-1 on a test bench.
• Imaging of the Poiseuille's profile of xylem sap flow velocity in tomato plant stems.
• Validation of the method's straightforward application for slow flow quantification.

Conclusions:

• The developed flow-MRI method is effective for measuring slow sap flow in plants.
• This technique provides valuable insights into plant water transport dynamics.
• It offers a powerful tool for plant stress physiology research under changing climate conditions.