Revolutionary terahertz technology: measure plant water easily!

Revolutionary terahertz technology: measure plant water easily!

A research team led by Professor Dr. Martin Koch at the Philipps University of Marburg has developed a groundbreaking method for visualizing the water balance of plants. This innovative technique uses terahertz spectroscopy to precisely observe the opening and closing of stomata, the leaf openings of plants. The results of this study were recently published in the specialist journal Scientific Reports published. Using this method, scientists can now better analyze the ability of plants to adapt to their water resources.

Stomata play a crucial role in plant life as they enable CO2 exchange and regulate transpiration. During the day, plants absorb CO2 through their stomata and release oxygen, losing water in the process. During drought stress or at night, the stomata close to prevent drying out. The terahertz waves used to analyze water balance are strongly absorbed by water. The signal attenuation that occurs when terahertz radiation passes through the leaves provides clues about the plants' water content, making the method particularly useful.

A comparison of plant variants

In a further analysis, the team compared Arabidopsis plants with variants that have limited regulation of their water balance due to a gene mutation. This mutation impairs specific signaling pathways in the drought stress response. The results show that plants with a genetic defect dry out more quickly because they cannot effectively adapt their stomatal opening to the water supply. Such knowledge could be crucial for identifying more resilient plant crops to the challenges of climate change.

In addition, the scientists are striving for a more portable and cost-effective implementation of this measurement technology in order to give other laboratories access to this innovative technology. Professor Dr. Martin Koch teaches physics and heads the semiconductor photonics working group at the University of Marburg. These advances could be important not only for the agricultural economy, but also for other areas where efficient water management is required.

Applications in agriculture and beyond

Climate change is causing prolonged drought in many regions, forcing farmers to conserve water. Intelligent irrigation systems that are tailored to the actual needs of the plants could be a solution here. Current methods for analyzing water status are often invasive and damaging to plants. Terahertz spectroscopy, on the other hand, is non-invasive and offers the advantage that the external appearance of the plant, like the pine needles examined, remains unchanged, even if they have been subjected to drought stress for several weeks.

Terahertz technology, which also has potential in industry and medicine, for example in cancer diagnosis, enables automated and more precise phenotyping of plants. The planned portable system for analyzing plants in the field could revolutionize irrigation management. The German Plant Phenotyping Network (DPPN) and its European counterpart EPPN are already working on developing non-invasive, high-throughput methods for plant research, further underlining the importance of this technology.