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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Adaptive Cropping Systems Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #385514
Research Project: Experimentally Assessing and Modeling the Impact of Climate and Management on the Resiliency of Crop-Weed-Soil Agro-Ecosystems

Location: Adaptive Cropping Systems Laboratory

Title: A minimally disruptive method for measuring water potential in-planta using hydrogel nanoreporters

Author
item JAIN, PIYUSH - Cornell University
item LIU, WEIZHEN - Cornell University
item ZHU, SIYU - Cornell University
item Chang, Christine
item MELKONIAN, JEFF - Cornell University
item ROCKWELL, FULTON - Harvard University
item PAULI, DUKE - University Of Arizona
item SUN, YING - Cornell University
item HOLBROOK, MICHELLE - Harvard University
item RIHA, SUSAN - Cornell University
item GORE, MICHAEL - Cornell University
item STROOCK, ABRAHAM - Cornell University

Submitted to: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/7/2021
Publication Date: 5/31/2021
Citation: Jain, P., Liu, W., Zhu, S., Chang, C.Y., Melkonian, J., Rockwell, F.E., Pauli, D., Sun, Y., Holbrook, M.N., Riha, S.J., Gore, M.A., Stroock, A.D. 2021. A minimally disruptive method for measuring water potential in-planta using hydrogel nanoreporters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(PNAS). 118(23):e2008276118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2008276118.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2008276118

Interpretive Summary: Leaf water potential is a key indicator of plant water status which reflects soil moisture, plant health, and environmental conditions. To date, plant water status can only be measured using techniques that are destructive and have a high time and energy cost. In this study we introduce AquaDust, a novel tool that enables nondestructive, rapid detection of leaf water potential using remote sensing. This tool will be useful to scientists to better understand water relations within plant tissues and improve monitoring of plant water status in fields.

Technical 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 Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). Upon infiltration into leaves, the nanoparticles localize within the apoplastic space in the mesophyll; they do not enter the cytoplasm or the xylem. We characterize the physical basis for AquaDust’s response and demonstrate its function in intact maize (Zea mays L.) leaves as a reporter of leaf water potential. We use AquaDust to measure gradients of water potential along intact, actively transpiring leaves as a function of water status; the localized nature of the reporters allows us to define a hydraulic model that distinguishes resistances inside and outside the xylem. We also present field measurements with AquaDust through a full diurnal cycle to confirm the robustness of the technique and of our model. We conclude that AquaDust offers potential opportunities for high-throughput field measurements and spatially resolved studies of water relations within plant tissues.