Metabolic imaging in living plants: A promising field for chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI.

ABSTRACT: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a versatile technique in the biomedical field, but its application to the study of plant metabolism in vivo remains challenging because of magnetic susceptibility problems. In this study, we report the establishment of chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) for plant MRI. This method enables noninvasive access to the metabolism of sugars and amino acids in complex sink organs (seeds, fruits, taproots, and tubers) of major crops (maize, barley, pea, potato, sugar beet, and sugarcane). Because of its high signal detection sensitivity and low susceptibility to magnetic field inhomogeneities, CEST analyzes heterogeneous botanical samples inaccessible to conventional magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The approach provides unprecedented insight into the d

SUBMITTER: Mayer S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11409970 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature