Assessing radiation dose limits for X-ray fluorescence microscopy analysis of plant specimens

Background and Aims X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) is a powerful technique to elucidate the distribution of elements within plants. However, accumulated radiation exposure during analysis can lead to structural damage and experimental artefacts including elemental redistribution. To date. acceptable dose limits have not been systematically established for hydrated plant specimens. Methods Here we systematically explore acceptable dose rate limits for investigating fresh sunflower (Helianthus annuus) leaf and root samples and investigate the time-dose damage in leaves attached to live plants. Key Results We find that dose limits in fresh roots and leaves are comparatively low (4.1 kGy), based on localized disintegration of structures and element-specific redistribution. In contrast, frozen-hydrated samples did not incur any apparent damage even at doses as high as 587 kGy. Furthermore, we find that for living plants subjected to XFM measurement in vivo and grown for a further 9 d before being reimaged with XFM, the leaves display elemental redistribution at doses as low as 0.9 kGy and they continue to develop bleaching and necrosis in the days after exposure. Conclusions The suggested radiation dose limits for studies using XFM to examine plants are important for the increasing number of plant scientists undertaking multidimensional measurements such as tomography and repeated imaging using XFM.