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Multi Electrode Arrays (MEAs) and the Electrical Network of the Roots

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Measuring Roots

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Abstract

Electrically excitable cells are present in many multicellular organisms, especially in brains of animals, but also in lower animals such as sponges, which lack central nervous system and in animals having excitable epithelia, which can conduct signals via neuroid conduction. In plants, most cells are electrically excitable and active, releasing and propagating action potentials (APs), which may affect central physiological processes such as photosynthesis and respiration. The first report describing electrical signals in plants was published over 200 years ago on carnivorous plants. Since then, many researchers have made detailed analyses of the electrical activity of single cells by using microelectrodes for intracellular recordings. However, such techniques cannot address integrated issues of how large assembly of cells can combine information both spatially and temporally. This can be possible using a multi electrode array (MEA) approach, intensively used in neuroscience for any electrogenic animal tissues, and here presented as its first application also for plants tissues. The system allows noninvasive, long time and multisite recording and stimulation with high spatiotemporal resolution. After a short description of the MEA technique in terms of hardware and background, the chapter mainly focuses on the application of this technique in plant electrophysiology by showing some recent works concerning the study of both the intense spontaneous electrical activities and the stimulation-elicited bursts of locally propagating electrical signals generated by the root apex.

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Abbreviations

AP:

Action Potential

DMSO:

Dimethyl Sulphoxide

DNQX:

6,7-Dinitroquinoxaline-2,4-dione

Gd3+ :

gadolinium

l-glu:

l-glutamate

MCS:

Multi Channel Systems®

Mer:

Meristem

MZ:

Mature Zone

S/N:

signal-to-noise

TiN:

Titanium nitride

TZ:

Transition Zone

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant, Soil and Environment, University of Florence, viale delle Idee 30, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy

    Elisa Masi, Eisa Azzarello, Camilla Pandolfi, Susanna Pollastri & Sergio Mugnai

  2. Dpt. Plant, Soil & Environment, University of Firenze, Viale delle idee 30, Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy

    Stefano Mancuso

Authors
  1. Elisa Masi
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  2. Eisa Azzarello
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  3. Camilla Pandolfi
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  4. Susanna Pollastri
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  5. Sergio Mugnai
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  6. Stefano Mancuso
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sergio Mugnai .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipto. Ortoflorofrutticoltura, Università Firenze, Viale delle Idee 30, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Italy

    Stefano Mancuso

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Masi, E., Azzarello, E., Pandolfi, C., Pollastri, S., Mugnai, S., Mancuso, S. (2012). Multi Electrode Arrays (MEAs) and the Electrical Network of the Roots. In: Mancuso, S. (eds) Measuring Roots. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22067-8_3

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