I am seeking ideas on how to better visualise root differentiation
occurring in stem cuttings of hardwood plants. At present I am fixing,
embedding and making sequential sections of stem material to look at the
pattern of differentiation in cuttings. This is a time consuming and
frustrating procedure, not least because I cannot tell if the sections I
prepare will be at the stage I need until after I have done all the
sectioning and staining, and long after I collected the sample. The other
problem with this technique is that the slides cannot be readily
translated into a three dimensional image of the tissues I am interested
in, although I presume it would be possible if I really need to.
It occurred to me that the medical world has a whole range of machines
designed to allow them look at tissues in a non-destructive, non-invasive
manner. They use ultra-sound, CAT scanners, Magnetic Resonance Imagery and
PET scanners to produce images of soft and hard tissues. I can't think of
any reason why plants could not be imaged in the same way.
My questions are:
Have any of these techniques been used to look at plant tissues?
(references please)
What are the resolution limits?
Are there any alternative methods to get the images?
