High-resolution non-contact measurement of the electrical activity of plants in situ using optical recording

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 13425
• Main Authors: Zhao, Dong-Jie, Chen, Yang, Wang, Zi-Yang, Xue, Lin, Mao, Tong-Lin, Liu, Yi-Min, Wang, Zhong-Yi, Huang, Lan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 03.09.2015; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/449/2661/2665; 631/449/2675; Action potential; Action Potentials - physiology; Calibration; Data processing; Electrophysiological recording; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Gene expression; Helianthus - physiology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Laboratories; Methods; multidisciplinary; Phloem; Physiology; Plant Stems - physiology; Recording; Reproducibility of Results; Science; Semiconductors; Sensitivity and Specificity; Signal processing; Spatial discrimination; Stems; Synchronization; Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging - instrumentation; Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging - methods
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep13425

The limitations of conventional extracellular recording and intracellular recording make high-resolution multisite recording of plant bioelectrical activity in situ challenging. By combining a cooled charge-coupled device camera with a voltage-sensitive dye, we recorded the action potentials in the stem of Helianthus annuus and variation potentials at multiple sites simultaneously with high spatial resolution. The method of signal processing using coherence analysis was used to determine the synchronization of the selected signals. Our results provide direct visualization of the phloem, which is the distribution region of the electrical activities in the stem and leaf of H. annuus and verify that the phloem is the main action potential transmission route in the stems of higher plants. Finally, the method of optical recording offers a unique opportunity to map the dynamic bioelectrical activity and provides an insight into the mechanisms of long-distance electrical signal transmission in higher plants.