Fluorescent molecular rotors quantify an adjuvant-induced softening of plant wax
Author(s)
Sherin, Petr S
Rueckel, Markus
Kuimova, Marina K
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Epicuticular wax is the outmost layer of plant leaves that protects them from desiccation and penetration of harmful reagents. There is an intense industrial effort in the development of softening agents, adjuvants, that can adjust the permeability of the wax toward pesticides and, thus, play an important role in sustainable agriculture. However, mechanistic understanding of the structure and dynamic properties within the plant wax, particularly upon the application of adjuvants, is currently lacking. In this work, we demonstrate that fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) combined with molecular rotors, fluorescent probes sensitive to viscosity, can directly probe the microviscosity of amorphous and crystalline phases of model plant wax layers. Moreover, this approach is able to quantify the changes in viscosity in both phases upon the addition of water and adjuvant solutions on top of the wax. We show that water permeation mostly perturbs the crystalline phase of the wax, while our chosen adjuvant, Plurafac LF431, mainly softens the amorphous phase of the wax. Our technique provides a facile and quantitative way to monitor dynamic properties within plant waxes with diffraction-limited resolution and reveals the effect of organic substances on wax structure and rigidity, crucial for designing next-generation agents to improve agricultural efficiency.
Date Issued
2024-06-24
Date Acceptance
2024-04-27
Citation
Chemical & Biomedical Imaging, 2024, 2 (6), pp.453-461
ISSN
2832-3637
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
453
End Page
461
Journal / Book Title
Chemical & Biomedical Imaging
Volume
2
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2024 The Authors. Co-published by Nanjing University and American Chemical Society. This publication is licensed under
CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0.
CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38939873
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2024-05-07