Abstract
Due to its high sensitivity and specificity for tumor detection, positron emission tomography (PET) has become a standard and widely used molecular imaging technique. Given the popularity of PET, both clinically and preclinically, its use has been extended to study plants. However, only a limited number of research groups worldwide report PET-based studies, while we believe that this technique has much more potential and could contribute extensively to plant science. The limited application of PET may be related to the complexity of putting together methodological developments from multiple disciplines, such as radio-pharmacology, physics, mathematics and engineering, which may form an obstacle for some research groups. By means of this manuscript, we want to encourage researchers to study plants using PET. The main goal is to provide a clear description on how to design and execute PET scans, process the resulting data and fully explore its potential by quantification via compartmental modeling. The different steps that need to be taken will be discussed as well as the related challenges. Hereby, the main focus will be on, although not limited to, tracing 11CO2 to study plant carbon dynamics.
Highlights
Specialty section: This article was submitted to Technical Advances in Plant Science, a section of the journal Frontiers in Plant ScienceReceived: 03 September 2020 Accepted: 03 May 2021 Published: 02 June 2021Citation: Mincke J, Courtyn J, Vanhove C, Vandenberghe S and Steppe K (2021) Guide to Plant-positron emission tomography (PET) Imaging Using 11CO2
This imaging technique has already successfully shown its applicability to investigate the dynamic transport of nutrients, phytohormones as well as photoassimilates
To fully grasp PET imaging along with its potential and limitations, it is advised to have a profound read on the principles of PET or to follow a course on PET or biomedical imaging in general
Summary
Specialty section: This article was submitted to Technical Advances in Plant Science, a section of the journal Frontiers in Plant Science. Detection of γ-photons emitted by the radioisotopes enables tracking the transport and distribution of the radiotracers in the plant as a function of time This is a decisive advantage to study dynamic processes like, for instance, CO2 transport in xylem of tree branches and leaves. The short half-live of the radiotracers (e.g., 2 – 109 min for the most used radioisotopes in plant science – Table 1) in combination with the non-invasive nature of PET enable the same plant to be scanned multiple times without destructive sampling This feature allows to investigate the plant’s response to environmental changes within the same plant (Kiser et al, 2008). It was found that the position and speed of phloem transport in stems (with a diameter of 1 cm) changed
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