A look back at the seminar on “Plant Imaging and Spectroscopy”

This seminar brought together international researchers to discuss the latest advances in fluorescence, infrared, Raman, hyperspectral, and super-resolution imaging. Discussions also focused on the data analysis tools associated with these techniques. The aim was to demonstrate the complementary nature of these approaches and how they can be used to provide information on the properties of biomass at different scales, particularly to better understand its reactivity during biotechnological transformations.

On the agenda:

• The challenges and complexities of plant imaging (Gabriel Paës - UMR FARE, INRAE Reims, France).
  Fluorescence microscopy approaches use the intrinsic fluorescence of plant cells derived from lignin or extrinsic probes to characterize tissue architecture.
   
• Hyperspectral infrared imaging (András Gorzás - ViSp, Umeå University, Sweden).
  The ability to easily modulate temporal or spatial resolutions makes this imaging technique very versatile for providing information on the composition of cell walls in different tissues.
   
• Hyperspectral Raman imaging (Notburga Gierlinger, BOKU University, Vienna, Austria).
  The power of this approach lies in its ability to provide spatialized chemical information for all components of plant walls.
   
• Hyperspectral image analysis (Anna de Juan, University of Barcelona, Spain).
  The processing and assembly of images obtained using different observation modalities requires specific mathematical developments and results in the fusion of information at different spatial resolutions.
   
• The contribution of the synchrotron (Frédéric Jamme, Synchrotron SOLEIL, France).
  The very high energy produced by synchrotron radiation, combined with cutting-edge instrumentation developed for this type of large instrument, makes it possible to probe the structure of plant biomass.
   
• Super-resolution (Alexis Peaucelle and Kalina Haas, IJBP, INRAE Versailles, France).
  Thanks to recent developments, it is possible to achieve higher resolutions than with conventional photonic microscopy, opening up new prospects for observing the architecture and interactions between polymers in plant walls.

This seminar illustrated the wealth of techniques available for better understanding plant structures and functions at different scales of observation. The speakers emphasized the importance of sample preparation in order to obtain high-quality, reproducible results.

Many thanks to the organizers and all the participants for this wonderful day of scientific exchange.