Imaging methods are becoming increasingly important in the area of photosynthesis. In the imaging section, we present educational reviews on light microscopy, electron microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The papers in
this section succinctly cover basic concept of the technique and highlight applications to research in photosynthesis; they also include recent results. Egbert J. Selleckchem HDAC inhibitor Boekema starts this section with an Introduction to Imaging Methods in Photosynthesis. Richard Cisek, Leigh T. Spencer, Donatas Zigmantas, George S. Espie, and Virginijus Barzda highlight the use of Optical Microscopy in Photosynthesis and discuss the applications of linear and nonlinear optical microscopy to visualize structural selleck products dynamics inside a living cell. Three reviews cover fluorescence imaging
techniques. The first review by Yi-Chun Chen and Robert M. Clegg discusses the Fluorescence Lifetime-resolved selleck chemical Imaging and its benefits in visualizing lifetimes of excited states. The second review is by Zdenĕk Petrášek, Hann-Jörg Eckert, and Klaus Kemnitz and gives a short account of Wide Field Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) based on Time- and Space-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TSCSPC) to image the excited state kinetics of fluorescence molecules; this paper discusses its application in visualizing fluorescence dynamics of photosynthetic systems in cyanobacterial cells. Imaging of Fluorescence Emission from Plant Tissues is presented by Zuzana Benediktyová and Ladislav Nedbal. Exploring Photosynthesis by Electron Tomography is reviewed by Martin F. Hohmann-Marriott and Robert W. Robertson; it summarizes its application to resolve ultrastructures of photosynthetic organisms within a few nanometers. Single Particle Electron Microscopy is presented by Egbert J. Boekema, Mihaela Folea and Roman
Kouřil. Simon Scheuring and James N. Stugis provide rationale for imaging, at high resolution, a native not photosynthetic membrane by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to study supramolecular assembly of the photosynthetic complexes; Scheuring and Stugis show that AFM bridges the resolution gap between atomic structures and cellular ultrastructures. MRI is a non-destructive and non-invasive technique that can be used to study the dynamics of plant water relations and water transport. Henk van As, Tom Scheenen, and Frank J. Vergeldt provide an account of MRI techniques that can be used to study plant performance in relation to its photosynthetic activity. Structural methods can be divided into methods for determining geometric structures, and those that reveal electronic structures.