Shining light on plant growth mechanisms from the microscopic to the macroscopic scale with calcium imaging

To address the challenges of sustainable agriculture, it is essential to understand how plants grow and respond to the environment. One key element in these processes is calcium which acts as a second messenger inside plant cells, helping coordinate development and reactions to external stimuli. This study explores calcium signaling in plants through a multiscale fluorescence imaging approach, from single cells to entire plants. At the microscopic level, calcium dynamics was observed in growing root hairs of Arabidopsis thaliana plants using light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM). At the macroscopic level, a custom-made imaging platform was developed to monitor calcium responses to external stimuli in adult Nicotiana benthamiana plants. This system was used to investigate plants’ response to external stimuli, such as leaf burning, revealing stimulus specific long-distance calcium signaling patterns.