Application of OpenPET as 3-D imaging device of carbon distribution in fruit

Kurita, Keisuke  ; Miyoshi, Yuta*; Nagao, Yuto*; Yamaguchi, Mitsutaka*; Suzui, Nobuo*; Yin, Y.-G.*; Ishii, Satomi*; Kawachi, Naoki*; Hidaka, Kota*; Yoshida, Eiji*; Takyu, Sodai*; Tashima, Hideaki*; Yamaya, Taiga*

Research on the distribution and dynamics of photoassimilates in plants, especially those in fruits, is important for improving food production. Positron emission tomography (PET) and carbon-11 (C) isotope technique are valuable to obtain 3-D images of photoassimilates. For plant experiments, however, it is important to adjust a system to plant's growth environment. General PET devices, even small-animal PET devices, are not suitable for plant studies. This can be solved by using a small OpenPET prototype which is a compact PET device that has an open space in its field of view (FOV). In this work, we upgraded the OpenPET system for the PET study of fruits and successfully realized the 3-D imaging of a photoassimilate labeled with CO in a fruit of a strawberry plant.