In Planta Analysis of the Radial Movement of Minerals from Inside to Outside in the Trunks of Standing Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) Trees at the Cellular Level

Although the radial movement of minerals in tree trunks is a widely accepted phenomenon, experimental evidence of their movement in standing trees and underlying mechanisms is very limited. Previously, we clarified that cesium (Cs) artificially injected into the outer part of the sapwood of standing Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) trunks moved to the inner part of the sapwood, including the intermediate wood, via active transport by xylem parenchyma cells and diffusion through cell walls and then moved into the heartwood by diffusion. To understand the mechanism underlying the radial movement of minerals in the standing tree trunk, it is necessary to clarify their movement in the opposite direction. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the radial movement of minerals from inside to outside in the trunks of standing trees at the cellular level. For this, a long hole across the center part of the trunk, which reached the heartwood, intermediate wood, and sapwood, was made in standing Japanese cedar trunks, and a solution of stable isotope Cs was continuously injected into the hole for several days as a tracer. The injected part of the trunk was collected after being freeze-fixed with liquid nitrogen, and the frozen sample was subjected to analysis of Cs distribution at the cellular level using cryo-scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The Cs injected into the inner sapwood or intermediate wood rapidly moved toward the outer sapwood via xylem ray parenchyma cells together with diffusion through the cell walls. In contrast, the Cs injected into the heartwood barely moved to the sapwood, although it reached a part of the inner intermediate wood. These results suggest that minerals in xylem ray parenchyma cells in the sapwood are bidirectionally supplied to each other; however, the minerals accumulated in the heartwood may not be supplied to living cells.

Automated summary

Experimental evidence shows that minerals in tree trunks can rapidly move from the inner sapwood or intermediate wood to the outer sapwood via xylem parenchyma cells and diffusion through cell walls. However, minerals accumulated in the heartwood may not be readily supplied to living cells within the tree trunk.