CAT scans for plants?

[Joseph Postman]

In article <luckman-220294134325 at agscience49h143.agsci.utas.edu.au> luckman at postoffice.utas.edu.au (Greg Luckman) writes:
>
>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?

M. Warmund et. al. used Magnetic Resonance Imaging to look at vascular
connections in apple buds grafted onto a particular rootstock:
	M.R. Warmund, B. H. Barritt... 1993. J. American Society of Hort.
Science 118(1):92-96.

They cite a paper by Chien Yi Wang and Paul C. Wang on the use of Nuclear
Magnetic Resonance Imaging to nondestructively detect core breakdown in
pear fruits.  1989. HortScience 24(1):106-109.  Impressive photos!

Wang and Wang cite some other interesting references:

Bottomley, P.A. et. al. 1986. NMR imaging shows water distribution and
transport in plant root systems in sity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:87-89.

Brown, J.M. et. al. 1986. In vivo magnetic resonance microscopy of
changing water content in Pelargonium hortorum roots. Plant Physiol.
82:1158-1160.

Omasa, K. et. al. 1985. NMR imaging of measuring root system and soil
water content. Env. Control Biol 23:99-102.

Wang, P.C. & S.J. Chang. 1986. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of wood.
  Wood & Fiber Sci. 18:308-314.

   I'm also interested in non-destructive methods for examining the
development of graft unions in woody plants, with the objective of early
prediction of compatible/incompatible combinations.  Would like to hear
about any references or experiences in this regard.

	 _______________________________________________________________
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	|      Joseph D. Postman	|	phone: (503) 750-8713	|
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