Expansion of the dynamic range of statistical interferometry and its application to extremely short- to long-term plant growth monitoring

Nanometer accuracy statistical interferometric technique in monitoring the short-term effects of exogenous plant hormones, auxin and gibberellic acid, on rice plants

Statistical interferometric technique (SIT) is a highly sensitive, high speed non-contact, and non-destructive optical technique developed by our group capable of measuring instantaeoues sub-nanometer displacements. SIT applied to plant leaf elongation revealed nanometric intrinsic fluctuaitons (NIF) that are robust and sensitive to variations in the environment making NIF as a measure of healthiness of the plants. In this study, exogenous plant hormones, auxin (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid-2,4-D), and gibberellic acid (GA₃), along with an auxin transport inhibitor 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid-TIBA, that affect plant growth were used to investigate their effects on NIF. Rice (Oriza sativa) seedlings were used, and their roots were exposed to 1, 2, and 4 µM 2,4-D, and the auxin transport inhibitor, TIBA, of 10, and 20 µM for 22 h and GA₃ solution of different concentrations of 10, 40, and 100 µM for 5 h. Results showed significant increment in NIF for 1 µM and reduction for 4 µM 2,4-D while applicaiton of both 10, and 20 µM TIBA led to reduction in NIF. On the other hand, significant increment in NIF for 40 µM, and a significant reduction at a higher concentration of 100 µM for 5 hours of GA₃ were also observed in comparison to those of control. Our results indicate that NIF as revealed by SIT could show both the positive and negative effects depending on the concentration of exogenous hormones, and transport inhibitors. Results suggest that SIT could be a valuable tool being sensitive enough to speedily assess the effects of plant growth hormones.

Highly sensitive optical interferometric technique reveals stress-dependent instantaneous nanometric growth fluctuations of Chinese chive leaf under heavy metal stress

Plant growth apart from being a complex and highly dynamic is dependent on its immediate environment. Leaf expansion measurements using Statistical Interferometry Technique, a sensitive interferometric technique at nanometric accuracy and at sub-second levels revealed the presence of characteristic nanometric intrinsic fluctuations [Plant Biotechnology 31, 195 (2014)]. In this paper, we demonstrate that the nanometric intrinsic fluctuations are sensitive enough that they change under exposure of heavy metals, essential micronutrient zinc and non-essential element cadmium, at relatively low concentrations in the leaves of Chinese chive (Allium tuberosum). The nanometric intrinsic fluctuations of leaves were observed for 4h under three cadmium concentrations or two zinc concentrations. Results showed significant reduction of nanometric intrinsic fluctuations for all cadmium concentrations, and in contrast significant increase of nanometric intrinsic fluctuations for all zinc concentrations. There was significant reduction of nanometric intrinsic fluctuations for cadmium exposure of concentrations of 0.001mM for even an hour, and significant increment of nanometric intrinsic fluctuations under 0.75mM zinc from 1hr exposure. For comparison, antioxidative enzymes and metal uptake were also measured under 4hr exposure of cadmium or zinc. However, no significant changes could be seen in antioxidative enzymes within 4h under the smaller concentration of 0.001mM cadmium as seen for nanometric intrinsic fluctuations. The results imply that nanometric intrinsic fluctuations can be not only used as a measure for heavy metal stress but also it can be more sensitive to detect the toxic as well as positive effects of smaller amounts of heavy metal on plants at an early stage.

Nanometer-scale elongation rate fluctuations in the Myriophyllum aquaticum (Parrot feather) stem were altered by radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation

The emission of radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation (EMR) by various wireless communication base stations has increased in recent years. While there is wide concern about the effects of EMR on humans and animals, the influence of EMR on plants is not well understood. In this study, we investigated the effect of EMR on the growth dynamics of Myriophyllum aquaticum (Parrot feather) by measuring the nanometric elongation rate fluctuation (NERF) using a statistical interferometry technique. Plants were exposed to 2 GHz EMR at a maximum of 1.42 Wm(-2) for 1 h. After continuous exposure to EMR, M. aquaticum plants exhibited a statistically significant 51 ± 16% reduction in NERF standard deviation. Temperature observations revealed that EMR exposure did not cause dielectric heating of the plants. Therefore, the reduced NERF was due to a non-thermal effect caused by EMR exposure. The alteration in NERF continued for at least 2.5 h after EMR exposure and no significant recovery was found in post-EMR NERF during the experimental period.

An optical interferometric technique for assessing ozone induced damage and recovery under cumulative exposures for a Japanese rice cultivar

Exposure to ozone (O₃) causes reduction both in the growth and yield of rice (Oriza sativa L.). Commonly used Chlorophyll fluorescent measurements are not sensitive enough for short term exposure of O₃ aiming an immediate assessments. Such a conventional method typically needs exposure over a few days to detect the influence. As an alternative method, we proposed a novel non-invasive, robust, real-time, optical Statistical Interferometric Technique (SIT) to measure growth at an accuracy of 0.1 nm with a commonly consumed Japanese rice cultivar, Koshihikari. In the present study, we have conducted a repetitive O₃ exposure experiment for three days under three different concentrations of 0 nl l^-1 (control), 120 nl l^-1, and 240 nl l^-1, to investigate the damage and recovery strengths. As a measure to assess the effect and recovery from three consecutive day exposures of O₃, we measured the elongation rate (nm mm^-1 sec^-1) every 5.5 sec for 7 hours, and it revealed nanometric elongation rate fluctuations or Nanometric Intrinsic Fluctuations (NIF). Comparing the standard deviation (SD) of normalized nanometric intrinsic fluctuations (NNIF), which was normalized by that before the exposure, we found that drastic reductions under both 120 nl l^-1 and 240 nl l^-1 O₃ concentrations. Reduction percentages were large under high O₃ concentration of 240 nl l^-1 indicating the possibility of irreversible effect. However exposure to 120 nl l^-1 of O₃ showed recovery on the 2^nd and 3^rd days. While SIT did reveal immediate effect based on an observation for a few hours, the visible foliar effect could be observed only after a week. Hence, the technique could provide a way for fast assessment of effect and recovery due to cumulative exposure of O₃ and hence the tolerance as well as the vitality of plant.