線イメージング技術を駆使した植物研究の展開

Recent developments in plant science involving use of -ray imaging technology

河地 有木

Kawachi, Naoki

-ray imaging technologies based on the use of radiotracers enable us to clearly determine the physiological function of an organ not only during pre-clinical and clinical studies but also in the field of plant science. Serial time-course images can be used to indicate the changing spatial distribution of a radiotracer within a living plant system and to describe the dynamics and kinetics of a substance in an intact plant. -rays almost completely penetrate a plant body, and the image data obtained using them can potentially be used to quantitatively analyze physiological function parameters. This paper briefly reviews recent progress in the field of plant science to explore the use of positron emission tomography, a gamma camera, and the positron-emitting tracer imaging system, which is one of the most advanced -ray imaging systems available for studying plant physiology, for solving problems in the field of environment and agriculture.