This title appears in the Scientific Report : 2014 
Monitoring roots, nodule and pod development in vivo: New perspectives on legume development
Metzner, Ralf (Corresponding Author)
Pflanzenwissenschaften; IBG-2
2014
2014
The 6th International Food Legumes Research Conference, Saskatoon (Canada), 2014-07-06 - 2014-07-11
Conference Presentation
Deutsches Pflanzen Phänotypisierungsnetzwerk
CROP.SENSe.net
Sustainable Bioproduction


Seed filling, root and nodule development are some of the key processes involved in abiotic stress resistance. However, these are complex processes hidden either by pod tissue (seed filling) or by soil (roots and nodules), so studying them quantitatively in-vivo is challenging. Non-invasive (3D) imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to investigate hidden structural development both above- and belowground. Co-registered positron emission tomography (PET) allows the acquisition of functional information by mapping of recent carbon investment of the plant and its dynamics e.g. in response to stress. For tasks not requiring spatial (volumetric) resolution, such as monitoring changes in pod water and dry-matter content, low field nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry with portable devices (pNMR) can be applied. Such devices allow sensor-like applications in the greenhouse and the field. In the current contribution we will demonstrate the application of MRI to follow the development of root system architecture in soil grown pea and bean genotypes and monitor the progress of nodulation by repeated 3D mapping of nodule distribution. By correlating these maps with PET, monitoring carbon import, we get first insights into the functionality of nodules in the soil. Additionally we will demonstrate monitoring changes of bean pod water and dry-matter contents over the course of several weeks with pNMR. We discuss the potential and challenges of all three techniques (MRI, PET and pNMR) for application in legume research.