Abstract
Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy coupled with nano-scale microscopy has been widely used in material science, environmental science, and physical sciences. In this work, the advantages of soft X-ray absorption spectromicroscopy for plant biopolymer research were demonstrated by determining the chemical sensitivity of the technique to identify common plant biopolymers and to map the distributions of biopolymers in plant samples. The chemical sensitivity of soft X-ray spectroscopy to study biopolymers was determined by recording the spectra of common plant biopolymers using soft X-ray and Fourier Transform mid Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy techniques. The soft X-ray spectra of lignin, cellulose, and polygalacturonic acid have distinct spectral features. However, there were no distinct differences between cellulose and hemicellulose spectra. Mid infrared spectra of all biopolymers were unique and there were differences between the spectra of water soluble and insoluble xylans. The advantage of nano-scale spatial resolution exploited using soft X-ray spectromicroscopy for plant biopolymer research was demonstrated by mapping plant cell wall biopolymers in a lentil stem section and compared with the FT-IR spectromicroscopy data from the same sample. The soft X-ray spectromicroscopy enables mapping of biopolymers at the sub-cellular (~30 nm) resolution whereas, the limited spatial resolution in the micron scale range in the FT-IR spectromicroscopy made it difficult to identify the localized distribution of biopolymers. The advantages and limitations of soft X-ray and FT-IR spectromicroscopy techniques for biopolymer research are also discussed.
Highlights
Introduction of Soft XRay Spectromicroscopy as an Advanced Technique for Plant Biopolymers ResearchChithra Karunakaran1*, Colleen R
Electron microscopy (EM), analytical chemistry, and histochemical methods are extensively used to characterize biopolymers in plant products [1,2,3]. These methods are limited by the lack of sensitivity and information loss on the spatial localization and distribution of chemical components
Vibrational (Raman and infrared) and ultraviolet spectromicroscopy techniques have long been used as non-destructive methods for in-situ physicochemical characterization of biopolymers [5,6]
Summary
Introduction of Soft XRay Spectromicroscopy as an Advanced Technique for Plant Biopolymers ResearchChithra Karunakaran1*, Colleen R. Electron microscopy (EM), analytical chemistry, and histochemical methods are extensively used to characterize biopolymers in plant products [1,2,3]. These methods are limited by the lack of sensitivity and information loss on the spatial localization and distribution of chemical components. Vibrational (Raman and infrared) and ultraviolet spectromicroscopy techniques have long been used as non-destructive methods for in-situ physicochemical characterization of biopolymers [5,6]. Lots of work have been reported on biopolymer characterization, an in-depth understanding on the localization of biopolymers, their interactions and contribution to diverse functions is necessary
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