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METHODS article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Bioinformatics
Volume 15 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1395952
This article is part of the Research Topic Omics in Seed Development: Challenges and Opportunities for Improving of Seed Quality and Yield in Model and Crop Plants View all 11 articles
Applications of synchrotron light in seed research: an array of X-ray and infrared imaging methodologies
Provisionally accepted
Paula Ashe
1
Kaiyang Tu
2
Jarvis Stobbs
2
Jay Dynes
2
Miranda Vu
2
Hamid Shaterian
1
Sateesh Kagale
1
Karen Tanino
3
Janitha P. D. Wanasundara
4
Chithra Karunakaran
2
Teagen D Quilichini
1*- 1 Aquatic and Crop Resource Development Research Centre, National Research Council Canada (NRC), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- 2 Canadian Light Source (Canada), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- 3 Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture and Bioresources, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- 4 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Synchrotron radiation (SR) provides a wide spectrum of bright light that can be tailored to test myriad research questions. SR provides avenues to illuminate structure and composition across scales, making it ideally suited to the study of plants and seeds. Here, we present an array of methodologies and the data outputs available at a light source facility. Datasets feature seed and grain from a range of crop species including Citrullus sp. (watermelon), Brassica sp. (canola), Pisum sativum (pea), and Triticum durum (wheat), to demonstrate the power of SR for advancing plant science. The application of SR micro-computed tomography (SR-µCT) imaging revealed internal seed microstructures and their three-dimensional morphologies in exquisite detail, without the need for destructive sectioning. Spectroscopy in the infrared spectrum probed sample biochemistry, detailing the spatial distribution of seed macronutrients such as lipid, protein and carbohydrate in the embryo, endosperm and seed coat. Methods using synchrotron X-rays, including X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging revealed elemental distributions, to spatially map micronutrients in seed subcompartments and to determine their speciation. Synchrotron spectromicroscopy (SM) allowed chemical composition data to be resolved at the nano-scale level. Diverse crop seed datasets showcase the range of structural and chemical insights provided from five beamlines at the Canadian Light Source, and the potential for synchrotron imaging for informing plant and agricultural research.
Keywords: Synchrotron, micro-computed tomography (µCT), mid-infrared spectroscopy, Xray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), spectromicroscopy (SM), seed, embryo
Received: 04 Mar 2024; Accepted: 26 Dec 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Ashe, Tu, Stobbs, Dynes, Vu, Shaterian, Kagale, Tanino, Wanasundara, Karunakaran and Quilichini. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Teagen D Quilichini, Aquatic and Crop Resource Development Research Centre, National Research Council Canada (NRC), Ottawa, K1A 0R6, Ontario, Canada
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