Novel Plant Imaging and Analysis Water, Elements and Gas, Utilizing Radiation and Radioisotopes

This open access book is only an introduction to show that radiation and radioisotopes (RI) are premier tools to study living plant physiology which leads to new findings. Who had ever imagined that we could see water in a plant? Who had ever imagined that we could see ions moving toward roots in solution? Who had ever imagined that we could see invisible gas (CO₂) fixation and movement in a plant? These studies demonstrated for the first time that water, ions and gas can be visualized in living plants, which could be hardly seen by anyone before. This publication summarizes the results obtained by Nakanishi’s lab in The Univ. of Tokyo, based on her original concept and her original tools or systems. It is useful for professional scientists, plant physiologist, and those studying plant imaging. 

The chapters demonstrates the innovative imaging work of the author, using radioactive tracers and neutron beam to follow the absorption and transport manner of water as well as major, minor, and trace elements in plants. Through these studies the author developed a real-time macroscopic and microscopic imaging system able to apply commercially available gamma- and beta-ray emitters. The real-time movement of the elements is now possible by using ¹⁴C, ¹⁸F, ²²Na, ²⁸Mg, ³²P, ³³P, ³⁵S, ⁴²K, ⁴⁵Ca, ⁴⁸V, ⁵⁴Mn, ⁵⁵Fe, ⁵⁹Fe, ⁶⁵Zn, ⁸⁶Rb, ¹⁰⁹Cd, and ¹³⁷Cs. The imaging methods was applied to study the effect of ¹³⁷Cs following 3/11 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident, which has revealed the movements of radiocesium in the contaminated sites. 

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Part 1. Water in a Plant.- Chapter 2. Introduction.- Chapter 3 Water Specific Imaging.- Chapter 4. Real-Time Water Movement in a Plant.- Part 2. Elements in a Plant.- Chapter 5. Element specific distribution in a plant.- Chapter 6. Real-Time Element Movement in a Plant.- Chapter 7. Visualization of Gas fixation in a Plant.- Chapter 8. 3D images.- Chapter 9. Microautoradiography (MAR).- Chapter 10. Other real-time movement.- Part 3. Conclusion.- Chapter 11. Summary and perspective. 

Dr. Tomoko M. Nakanishi majored in radiochemistry and got Ph.D. from The Univ. of Tokyo. She is internationally known especially for her elegant and innovative imaging work, using radioactive tracers and neutron radiography to follow the transport of water, elements and ¹⁴CO₂ gas in plants. After Fukushima Nuclear Accident, she summarized the environmental and agricultural research in 3 books published from Springer. Because of these activities she received Hevesy Medal Award and honorary Dr. from Chalmers University of Technology, in Sweden. She is a member of Science Council of Japan and a foreign member of Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. She was a president of The Japanese Soc. of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences.