Mineral-element transport into and distribution in seeds

增加主食作物中微量营养素的密度被认为是克服营养不良的最有效办法，特别是在发展中世界。然而，生物强化策略的主要限制是对控制植物中微量营养素运输、加载到谷物中和在谷物中分布的相关生理和分子过程的理解不足。这需要能够对种子中的矿物元素进行微观定位的分析工具。在为数不多的可能的分析方法的任务，激光烧蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱（LA-ICP-MS）尚未应用到目前为止。据推测，LA-ICP-MS提供了一个有价值的工具，以提高我们的知识，不仅在种子中的金属分布的基因型差异，但也对金属运输到种子中，并使用稳定同位素。两个具体的假设是实验解决：（i）使用适当的供应时间，结合形式，并与N和S化合物的关联，浓度，特别是在种子中的微量营养元素金属的分布可以被改变，以实现在胚乳中的高浓度。(ii)有益和有害的重金属通常共同定位在种子中，但更好地了解种子内的空间分布将允许设计解开这种关系的策略，使目标金属可以单独集中。

Increasing the micronutrient density in staple food crops is regarded as a most effective way of overcoming malnutrition, particularly in the developing world. However, the major limitation to biofortification strategies is a poor understanding of relevant physiological and molecular processes controlling micronutrient transport in plants, loading into and distribution within grains. This requires analytical tools capable of micro-localising mineral elements in seeds. Among the few possible analytical approaches to the task, Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has not been applied so far. It is hypothesised that LA-ICP-MS provides a valuable tool to enhance our knowledge not only on genotypic differences in metal distribution in seeds but also on metal transport into and in the seeds using stable isotopes. The two specific hypotheses to be experimentally addressed are: (i) using the proper timing of the supply, binding form, and association with N and S compounds, the concentration and particularly the distribution of the micronutrient metals in the seeds can be altered to achieve a high concentration in the endosperm. (ii) Beneficial and unfavourable heavy metals are normally co-localized in seeds, but a better knowledge of the spatial distribution within the seeds will allow designing strategies for untying this relationship so that targeted metals can be concentrated individually.