Light Sheet

粮食安全是一个重大的全球性问题。到2050年，农作物产量必须翻一番，才能跟上全球人口增长到90亿的步伐。考虑到气候变化对水资源供应的影响以及减少化肥投入以使农业在环境上更具可持续性的必要性，这一目标更具挑战性。应对这些挑战的研究通常基于对更简单植物的研究，这些研究可以揭示如何改善作物的根系生长和分支、水分运动、种子发芽和花粉释放等重要性状。一种新型显微镜（使用一种称为光片荧光显微镜或LSFM的技术）最近被开发出来，首次允许对植物生长发育和基因表达进行长期研究。这种显微镜使用一层薄薄的激光照射标本。只有样品的测量部分被薄片照射，使过程压力较小，并允许对活植物进行几天的成像。蔡司Z.1是第一款商用LSFM。这种成像方法并没有被广泛用于研究植物，因为最初的机器缺乏在显微镜下生长植物的能力。我们与制造商一起设计的显微镜将配备温度和光控制，并将成为世界上第一批（也是英国第一批）专门为植物科学优化的光片显微镜之一。我们将使用这一独特的工具来研究与粮食安全相关的许多生物学问题，包括：1。根系对环境信号的响应。根系根据营养和水等环境信号调整其生长，以优化在土壤中觅食这些重要资源的能力。LSFM图像将首次允许在4-D中可视化觅食过程，例如当根向水源生长时的亲水性。根系维管形态增加水分利用效率。根的维管组织是输送水分和营养物质的主要系统。LSFM图像将为控制维管组织特性的基因活性提供重要信息，并有助于设计具有交替维管模式的品系，从而提高水分利用效率。种子萌发首先发生在种皮破裂，然后是胚乳（活细胞的外壳）破裂。由于胚乳对湿度和温度的敏感性，对其拉伸和破裂过程的研究比较困难。这可以在LSFM中进行控制，允许随时间跟踪细胞几何形状和标记。种子也是动植物的主要营养来源。我们将使用LSFM来了解胚珠如何在种子内发育，以最大限度地提高油籽的产量。花药和花粉发育。花粉活力的控制和功能花粉的释放对施肥和作物产量至关重要。LSFM将用于高分辨率和随时间的荧光标记分子可视化，从花粉壁沉积，通过花药开口，到花粉释放。

Food security represents a major global issue. Crop production has to double by 2050 to keep pace with a global population increasing to 9 billion. This target is even more challenging given the impact of climate change on water availability and the need to reduce fertilizer inputs to make agriculture become more environmentally sustainable. Research to meet these challenges is often based on studies using simpler plants which can reveal insights as to how important traits such as root growth and branching, water movement, seed germination and pollen release can be improved in crops. A new type of microscope (using a technique called Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy or LSFM) has recently been developed that, for the first time, allows the long-term study of plant growth and development and gene expression. These microscopes use a thin sheet of laser light to illuminate a specimen. Only the measured part of the sample is illuminated by the sheet, making the process less stressful and allowing imaging of living plants for several days.The Zeiss Z.1 is the first commercially available LSFM. This imaging approach has not been widely used to study plants because the first machines lacked the ability to grow plants within the microscope. The microscope we have designed with the manufacturers will be fitted with temperature and light controls and will be one of the first light sheet microscopes in the world (and the first in the UK) to be specifically optimized for plant science. We will use this unique tool to look at many biological questions of relevance to food security including:1. Root responses to environmental signals. Roots adapt their growth in response to environmental signals like nutrients and water to optimise foraging in the soil for these important resources. LSFM images will allow for the first time visualization in 4-D of foraging processes such as hydrotropism when roots grow towards a water source.2. Root vascular patterning for increased water use efficiency. The vascular tissues of the root represent the main system for moving water and nutrients. The LSFM images would provide important information into the activity of genes controlling vascular tissue identity, and help efforts to engineer lines with alternate vascular patterns that may have greater water use efficiency.3. Seed germination occurs first by the seed coat rupturing, followed by the rupture of the endosperm (a coating of live cells). The process of endosperm stretching and rupture is difficult to study due to their sensitivity to humidity and temperature. This can be controlled in the LSFM, allowing tracking of cell geometry and markers over time.4. Seeds also provide a major nutrient source for plants and animals. We would use the LSFM to understand how ovules develop within seeds, with the aim of maximising yield of oilseeds.5. Anther and pollen development. The control of pollen viability and the release of functional pollen are critical for fertilization and crop yield. The LSFM will be used to visualize fluorescently labelled molecules with high resolution and with time, from pollen wall deposition, through anther opening, to pollen release.