Nanoparticle Uptake in Plants: Gold Nanomaterial Localized in Roots of Arabidopsis thaliana by X-ray Computed Nanotomography and Hyperspectral Imaging

Terrestrial plants can internalize and translocate nanoparticles (NPs). However, direct evidence for the processes driving the NP uptake and distribution in plants is scarce at the cellular level. Here, NP-root interactions were investigated after 10 days of exposure of Arabidopsis thaliana to 10 mg.L-1 of negatively or positively charged gold NPs (similar to 12 nm) in gels. Two complementary imaging tools were used: X-ray computed nanotomography (nano-CT) and enhanced dark-field microscopy combined with hyperspectral imaging (DF-HSI). The use of these emerging techniques improved our ability to detect and visualize NP in plant tissue: by spectral confirmation via DF-HSI, and in three dimensions via nano-CT. The resulting imaging provides direct evidence that detaching border-like cells (i.e., sheets of border cells detaching from the root) and associated mucilage can accumulate and trap NPs irrespective of particle charge. On the contrary, border cells on the root cap behaved in a charge-specific fashion: positively charged NPs induced a higher mucilage production and adsorbed to it, which prevented translocation into the root tissue. Negatively charged NPs did not adsorb to the mucilage and were able to translocate into the apoplast. These observations provide direct mechanistic insight into NP-plant interactions, and reveal the important function of border cells and mucilage in interactions of plants with charged NPs.