in vivo Imaging of Mechanical Injury Induced Changes in Plant Leaf's Delayed Luminescence and Wound Signaling.

Dr. Rao Papineni September 6, 2012 from 3:15 PM to 4:45 PM Insect herbivory or mechanical injury to leaf alters photosynthesis process, and in turn affects the plant yield. Delayed fluorescence of plants also known as delayed luminescence is emitted by the chlorophyll a molecules in PS2 antennae and has similar spectral properties as of chlorophyll a fluorescence. The delayed luminescence prevails for several minutes even after the illumination is stopped, while emission of chlorophyll a fluorescence ends immediately as the illumination stops. We used planar optical imaging techniques to determine changes in delayed luminescence of whole leaf subjected to mechanical injury simulating insect damage. The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), an early response in the wound signaling process at the leaf injury site(s) was captured using luminol based chemiluminescence approach. Here, we show that mechanical injury to detached whole leaf results in irreversible effects on the delayed luminescence. Further, infiltration of the luminol through the stalk of the leaves resulted in significant increase in chemiluminescence signals at the injury sites indicating the rapid production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in response to injury. The signal detection at the wound sites were up to 10-fold higher compared to the surrounding areas of the leaf. Herbicides mostly inhibit photosynthesis acting directly on the chlorophyll functions. The imaging technologies described here can potentially be used for screening new herbicides and recently reported at ASPB 2012 (Dr. Rao Papineni et. al, July 2012) in evaluation of pesticides capable of inducing plant defense mechanisms. Luminescence Chemiluminescence Overlay