Evaluation of in vivo detection properties of 22Na, 65Zn, 86Rb, 109Cd and 137Cs in plant tissues using real-time radioisotope imaging system

In plant research, radioisotope imaging provides useful information about physiological activities in various tissues and elemental transport between plant organs. To expand the usage of imaging techniques, a new system was developed to visualize beta particles, x-rays and gamma-rays emitted from plant bodies. This real-time radioisotope imaging system (RRIS) visualizes radioactivity after conversion into light with a CsI(Tl) scintillator plate. Herein, the RRIS detection properties of the gamma-ray emitters 22Na, 65Zn, 86Rb, 109Cd and 137Cs were evaluated in comparison with those of radioluminography (RLG) using an imaging plate. The lower quantitative detection limit (Bq mm−2) during a 15 min period ranged from 0.1 to 4, depending on the nuclide, similar to that of RLG. When the quantitative ability to detect radiation from various Arabidopsis tissues was analyzed, the quantitative capability in silique and the thick internode tended to be low. In an EGS5 simulation, beta particles were the greatest contributors to RRIS imaging of 22Na, 86Rb and 137Cs, and low-energy x-rays contributed significantly to 65Zn and 109Cd detection. Thus, both self-absorption and air space between the sample and scintillator surface could impair quantitative RRIS imaging. Despite these issues, RRIS is suggested for quantitative time-course measurements of radionuclide motion within plants.