A minimally disruptive method for measuring water potential in planta using hydrogel nanoreporters.

ABSTRACT: Leaf water potential is a critical indicator of plant water status, integrating soil moisture status, plant physiology, and environmental conditions. There are few tools for measuring plant water status (water potential) in situ, presenting a critical barrier for developing appropriate phenotyping (measurement) methods for crop development and modeling efforts aimed at understanding water transport in plants. Here, we present the development of an in situ, minimally disruptive hydrogel nanoreporter (AquaDust) for measuring leaf water potential. The gel matrix responds to changes in water potential in its local environment by swelling; the distance between covalently linked dyes changes with the reconfiguration of the polymer, leading to changes in the emission spectrum via Förster Resonanc

SUBMITTER: Jain P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8201978 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature