Fruit PET: 3-D imaging of carbon distribution in fruit using OpenPET

Research on the distribution and dynamics of photoassimilates in plants, especially those in fruits, is important for increasing food production. Positron emission tomography (PET) and carbon-11 (C-11) can be used for obtaining 3-D images of photoassimilates. For plant experiments, however, it is important to adjust the system to the plant’s growth environment. A small OpenPET prototype can visualize an open space between two detector rings, and thus facilitate adjustment of the environment around a target plant during fruit PET imaging. In this work, we improve the OpenPET for plant studies and discuss its applications in the analysis of the dynamics and distributions of photoassimilates in plants with fruits. C-11-labeled photoassimilate translocation into the fruit of a strawberry plant is imaged using C-11-labeled carbon dioxide and the OpenPET. The OpenPET has been found to be promising for researching the physiological functions of the photoassimilates in plants with fruits