Fluorescence signals from plant leaves have considerable potential for improving agricultural investigations; however, to fully interpret these signals, which are distributed unevenly across the leaf, it is necessary to image the signal distribution. Leaf tissues generate complex, two-dimensional, changing, time-dependent patterns of fluorescence that occur immediately after illumination of a dark-adapted leaf. These patterns are very sensitive measures of plant photosynthetic function. Thus, we built a novel, fully computer-interfaced instrument which provides two-dimensional images of time-dependent fluorescence in photosynthetic tissue. The instrument was built with the use of parts of our recently constructed imaging spectrophotometer. This instrument employs a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, which can acquire spectra for 31,680 positions per sample. Two simple filters remove excitation emission overlap. Software based on a novel approximation allows imaging of time-dependent fluorescence of photosystem II across the surface of a leaf. A simple reconfiguration of this instrument to image at a distance of seven meters was used to test potential remote sensing applications. The instrument's use in agriculture is demonstrated by very early determination of freeze damage, herbicide effects, and invasion by fungal pathogens.
A chemical identification procedure previously used to identify apple clones was tried with pear species and clones. Following electrophoresis, the peroxidase, esterase, and acid phosphatase isozyme patterns on anionic polyacrylamide gradient gels were determined. These patterns were found to vary with the species and clone, but not to change, within a clone during the growing season. Thus, these patterns were considered to represent genetic characteristics. The patterns were used to identify 37 selected Pyrus accessions at the National Clonal Germplasm Repository, Corvallis, Oregon. All species tested were distinguishable using this system. All the accessions of P. calleryana selected from the NCGR collection were distinct: however, one clone from outside the collection had an identical pattern to one inside the collection. Among the Chinese pear clones (complex hybrids of P. ussuriensis × P. pyrifolia) tested, three pairs of clones had the same combination. This technique appears to have the potential to readily identify pear specimens, and could be an important aid in the characterization of germplasm material.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.