Ryan is the XFM Lead Beamline Scientist at NSLS-II on Long Island, New York. His #My1stLight celebrates the night back in 2017 when the beamline succeeded in taking first light! A smiling team AND results. Definitely worth remembering as part of our 75 Years of Science with Synchrotron Light #My1stLight campaign
Read more about NSLS-II’s XFM beamline here
Prof Mark Gibberd, director of the Centre, said the investigation was thought to be one of the first that utilised high-resolution X-ray imaging to examine biotic stress related to fungal infection in wheat.
Using X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) on leaf samples collected from wheat plants, the team, which included project leader Dr Fatima Naim and ARC Future Fellow Dr Mark Hackett, mapped specific elements in the leaves in and around points of infection.
“Our research project looks at the physiological impact of plant diseases, such as yellow spot, on the function of leaves” said Gibberd.
Yellow spot is a ubiquitous fungal disease caused by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Ptr). It can reduce grain yields by up to 20 per cent – a significant amount which could be the difference between a profitable and non-profitable crop for a farmer.
In Australia, it is one of the most costly diseases to the wheat industry, with wheat yield losses due to yellow spot estimated at over $210 million per year.
>Read more on the Autralisan Synchrotron at ANSTO website
Image: FM image reveals elements present in yellow spot fungs and the wheat leaves.
Credit: Curtin University
The findings by lead researchers Prof Simon Lewis and Dr Mark Hackett may provide opportunities to optimise current fingermark detection methods or identify new detection strategies for forensic purposes.
Latent fingermarks are generally described as those requiring some process to make them readily visible to the eye. These fingermarks are typically made up of natural skin secretions, along with contaminants (such as food or cosmetics) picked up from various surfaces.
The detection of latent fingermarks is often crucial in forensic investigations, but this is not always a straightforward task. “We know that there are issues in detecting fingermarks as they get older, and also under certain environmental conditions”, said Lewis, whose main research focus is forensic exchange evidence.
“In order to improve our ability to detect fingermarks, we need to understand the nature of fingermark residue, and this includes both the organic and inorganic components. Many chemical components in fingermark residue are present at very low levels, and we don’t know how they are distributed within the fingermark. This is what took us to the Australian Synchrotron.”
The complementary power of combining multiple X-ray techniques to understand the unusual properties of hyperaccumulator plants has been highlighted in a new cover article just published in New Phytologist.
X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) at the Australian Synchrotron has been used by a consortium of international researchers led by Dr Antony van der Ent of the Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation at The University of Queensland, in association with A/Prof Peter Kopittke of the School of Agriculture and Food Science also at The University of Queensland.
The XFM technique generates elemental maps showing where elements of interest are found within plant tissue, seedlings or individual cells.
Visually striking images (obtained at the XFM beamline) show various hyperaccumulator plants, on the cover of the April issue of New Phytologist. In the images each element is depicted in a different colour, making up a red-green-blue (RGB) image.
“Hyperaccumulator plants have the unusual ability to accumulate extreme concentrations of metals and metalloids in their living tissues,” said van der Ent.
“Hyperaccumulators are of scientific interest because whilst metals are normally toxic to plants even at low concentrations, these plants are able to accumulate large concentrations without any toxic effects,” he added
>Read more on the Autralian Synchrotron website
Image: X‐ray Fluorescence (XRF) elemental maps of hyperaccumulator plants. The tricolour composite images show (left to right) root cross‐section of Senecio coronatus (red, iron; green, nickel; blue, potassium); and seedlings of Alyssum murale (red, calcium; green, nickel; blue, Compton scatter).
Credit: A. van der Ent.
