Proton Relaxometry of Tree Leaves at Hypogeomagnetic Fields

Abstract

ABSTRACT We report on a cross-species proton-relaxometry study in ex vivo tree leaves using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) at 7 μT. Apart from the intrinsic interest of probing nuclear-spin relaxation in biological tissues at magnetic fields below Earth field, our setup enables comparative analysis of plant water dynamics without the use of expensive commercial spectrometers. In this work, we focus on leaves from common Eurasian evergreen and deciduous tree families: Pinaceae (pine, spruce), Taxaceae (yew), Betulaceae (hazel), Prunus (cherry), and Fagaceae (beech, oak). Using a nondestructive protocol, we measure their effective proton T 2 relaxation times as well as track the evolution of water content associated with leaf dehydration. Newly developed “gradiometric quadrature” detection and data-processing techniques are applied in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the relatively weak measured signals. We find that while measured relaxation times do not vary significantly among tree genera, they tend to increase as leaves dehydrate. Such experimental modalities may have particular relevance for future drought-stress research in ecology, agriculture, and space exploration.

Plant phenotyping relevance

植物葉の水分状態・脱水をNMRプロトコルで測定し、低磁場での新規検出およびデータ処理法を開発しているため、表現型取得法が研究の中心である。

Code and data availability

The paper reports leaf proton-relaxometry measurements and analysis, but no public phenotype dataset, images, or author code repository is identified. Analysis code and fitted spectra are said to be in Supplementary Material, with no public URL or deposit given, so no qualifying public asset exists in the supplied text

No evidence-backed public reproduction asset is currently recorded.