Time-resolved spectroscopic fluorescence imaging, transient absorption and vibrational spectroscopy of intact and photo-inhibited photosynthetic tissue

Chlorophyll fluorescence lifetime imaging provides new insight into the chlorosis induced by plant virus infection

KEY MESSAGE

Leaf chlorosis induced by plant virus infection has a short fluorescence lifetime, which reflects damaged photosynthetic complexes and degraded chloroplasts. Plant viruses often induce chlorosis and necrosis, which are intimately related to photosynthetic functions. Chlorophyll fluorescence lifetime measurement is a valuable noninvasive tool for analyzing photosynthetic processes and is a sensitive indicator of the environment surrounding the fluorescent molecules. In this study, our central goal was to explore the effect of viral infection on photosynthesis by employing chlorophyll fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), steady-state fluorescence, non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and pigment analysis. The data indicated that the chlorophyll fluorescence lifetime of chlorotic leaves was significantly shorter than that of healthy control leaves, and the fitted short lifetime component of chlorophyll fluorescence of chlorotic leaves was dominant. This dominant short lifetime component may result from damage to the structure of thylakoid, which was confirmed by TEM. The NPQ value of chlorotic leaves was slightly higher than that of healthy green leaves, which can be explained by increased neoxanthin, lutein and violaxanthin content relative to chlorophyll a. The difference in NPQ is slight, but FLIM can provide simple and direct characterization of PSII structure and photosynthetic function. Therefore, this technique shows great potential as a simple and rapid method for studying mechanisms of plant virus infection.

In vivo monitoring of intracellular chloroplast movements in intact leaves of C4 plants using two-photon microscopy

Dynamic changes in the spatial distribution of chloroplasts are essential for optimizing photosynthetic capacity under changing light conditions. Light-induced movement of chloroplasts has been widely investigated, but most studies were conducted on isolated tissues or protoplasts. In this study, a two-photon microscopy (TPM) system was adapted to monitor the intracellular 3-dimensional (3D) movements of chloroplasts in intact leaves of plants during dark to light transitions. The TPM imaging was based on autofluorescence of chlorophyll generated by a femto-second Ti:Sapphire laser. All chloroplasts did not exhibit the same motion in response to irradiation variation. In the sub-epidermal mesophyll cells, chloroplasts generally moved away from the surface following blue light treatment, however many chloroplasts did not show any movement. Such spatial heterogeneity in chloroplast motility underlines the importance of monitoring intracellular orientation and movement of individual chloroplasts across intact leaves. Our investigation shows that the 3D imaging of chloroplasts using TPM can help to understand the changes in local photosynthetic capacity in intact leaves under changing environmental conditions.

Enhanced two-channel nonlinear imaging by a highly polarized supercontinuum light source generated from a nonlinear photonic crystal fiber with two zero-dispersion wavelengths

Real-time monitoring the variation of chlorophyll distributions and cellular structures in leaves during plant growth provides important information for understanding the physiological statuses of plants. Two-photon-excited autofluorescence imaging and second harmonic generation imaging of leaves can be used for monitoring the nature intrinsic fluorophores distribution and cellular structures of leaves by the use of the near-infrared region of light which has minimal light absorption by endogenous molecules and thus increases tissue penetration. However, the two-photon absorption peak of intrinsic fluorophores of a ficus benjamina leaf is 50 nm away from the second harmonic generation excitation wavelength, which cannot be effectively excited by a femtosecond laser beam with one central wavelength. This paper shows that a highly polarized supercontinuum light generated from a birefringent nonlinear photonic crystal fiber with two zero-dispersion wavelengths can effectively excite two-photon autofluorescence as well as second harmonic generation signals for simultaneously monitoring intrinsic fluorophore distributions and non-centrosymmetric structures of leaves.

Hyperspectral data processing for chemoselective multiplex coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy of unknown samples

Multiplex coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (MCARS) provides labeling free and fast characterization of materials and biological samples in nonlinear microscopy. In spite of its success, remaining challenges regarding the data analysis for chemoselective imaging still have to be solved. In general, image contrast has been realized by using only one spectral feature directly taken from the unprocessed raw data. This procedure is limited to strong and well separated Raman resonances like the saturated CH-stretching vibration of lipids in the case of biological samples. In order to overcome this limitation, we present a new method of MCARS data processing that exploits the whole measured spectrum to disentangle overlapping contributions of different (bio-) chemical components. Our "two-step" approach is based on the combination of imaginary part extraction followed by global fitting of the hyperspectral data set. Previous knowledge about the sample, e.g., pure spectra of the individual components is no longer necessary. The result is a highly contrasted image, where the patterns and differences between the sample components can be represented in different colors. We successfully applied this method to complex structured polymer samples and biological tissues.

Monitoring photosynthesis in individual cells of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 on a picosecond timescale

Picosecond fluorescence kinetics of wild-type (WT) and mutant cells of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, were studied at the ensemble level with a streak-camera and at the cell level using fluorescence-lifetime-imaging microscopy (FLIM). The FLIM measurements are in good agreement with the ensemble measurements, but they (can) unveil variations between and within cells. The BE mutant cells, devoid of photosystem II (PSII) and of the light-harvesting phycobilisomes, allowed the study of photosystem I (PSI) in vivo for the first time, and the observed 6-ps equilibration process and 25-ps trapping process are the same as found previously for isolated PSI. No major differences are detected between different cells. The PAL mutant cells, devoid of phycobilisomes, show four lifetimes: ∼20 ps (PSI and PSII), ∼80 ps, ∼440 ps, and 2.8 ns (all due to PSII), but not all cells are identical and variations in the kinetics are traced back to differences in the PSI/PSII ratio. Finally, FLIM measurements on WT cells reveal that in some cells or parts of cells, phycobilisomes are disconnected from PSI/PSII. It is argued that the FLIM setup used can become instrumental in unraveling photosynthetic regulation mechanisms in the future.

Wide-field photon counting fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy: application to photosynthesizing systems

Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) is a technique that visualizes the excited state kinetics of fluorescence molecules with the spatial resolution of a fluorescence microscope. We present a scanningless implementation of FLIM based on a time- and spacecorrelated single photon counting (TSCSPC) method employing a position-sensitive quadrant anode detector and wide-field illumination. The standard time-correlated photon counting approach leads to picosecond temporal resolution, making it possible to resolve complex fluorescence decays. This allows parallel acquisition of time-resolved images of biological samples under minimally invasive low-excitation conditions (<10 mW/cm(2)). In this way unwanted photochemical reactions induced by high excitation intensities and distorting the decay kinetics are avoided. Comparably low excitation intensities are practically impossible to achieve with a conventional laser scanning microscope, where focusing of the excitation beam into a tight spot is required. Therefore, wide-field FLIM permits to study Photosystem II (PS II) in a way so far not possible with a laser scanning microscope. The potential of the wide-field TSCSPC method is demonstrated by presenting FLIM measurements of the fluorescence dynamics of photosynthetic systems in living cells of the chlorophyll d-containing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina.

Applying two-photon excitation fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy to study photosynthesis in plant leaves

This study investigates to which extent two-photon excitation (TPE) fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy can be applied to study picosecond fluorescence kinetics of individual chloroplasts in leaves. Using femtosecond 860 nm excitation pulses, fluorescence lifetimes can be measured in leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana and Alocasia wentii under excitation-annihilation free conditions, both for the F (0)- and the F (m)-state. The corresponding average lifetimes are approximately 250 ps and approximately 1.5 ns, respectively, similar to those of isolated chloroplasts. These values appear to be the same for chloroplasts in the top, middle, and bottom layer of the leaves. With the spatial resolution of approximately 500 nm in the focal (xy) plane and 2 microm in the z direction, it appears to be impossible to fully resolve the grana stacks and stroma lamellae, but variations in the fluorescence lifetimes, and thus of the composition on a pixel-to-pixel base can be observed.