title: Selective observation of starch in a water plant using optical sum-frequency microscopy.
abstract: The photosynthesis, transfer, and storage of starch are the most important biogenic processes occurring in plants. In order to observe the colorless and transparent starch granules in a plant, a chemical pretreatment such as staining of the starch is currently required, which seriously damages the tissue cells in the plant. We demonstrate that nondestructive chemical analysis of starch granules in a plant can be performed by using optical second-harmonic and sum-frequency microscopy. These techniques for in vivo analysis will provide extremely useful information about saccharides in a plant and can be extended to the analysis of many other materials, from living tissue to semiconductors.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Ishikawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyauchi
authors.forename: Haruyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Goro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mirzutani
mesh_terms: D044784:Chara / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D012031:Refractometry / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared / Q000379:methods*; D013213:Starch / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D013213:Starch