title: Imaging element distribution and speciation in plant cells.
abstract: To maintain cellular homeostasis, concentrations, chemical speciation, and localization of mineral nutrients and toxic trace elements need to be regulated. Imaging the cellular and subcellular localization of elements and measuring their in situ chemical speciation are challenging tasks that can be undertaken using synchrotron-based techniques, such as X-ray fluorescence and X-ray absorption spectrometry, and mass spectrometry-based techniques, such as secondary ion mass spectrometry and laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We review the advantages and limitations of these techniques, and discuss examples of their applications, which have revealed highly heterogeneous distribution patterns of elements in different cell types, often varying in chemical speciation. Combining these techniques with molecular genetic approaches can unravel functions of genes involved in element homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement and Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilization in Low-Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China; Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK. Electronic address: Fangjie.Zhao@njau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Fang-Jie
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH, UK.
authors.forename: Katie L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, University of South Australia, Building X, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes, South Australia SA-5095, Australia.
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lombi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, China; State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China. Electronic address: ygzhu@rcees.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yong-Guan
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D059828:Plant Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission
keywords: chemical speciation; plant cells; synchrotron-based techniques