Chlorophyll Fluorescence: in Vivo Study of Plant Physiology

15 December 2020

Dr. Paolo Longoni, University of Neuchâtel

Giovanni Finazzi, Dr., CNRS Research Director, CEA Grenoble, France
Suneth S. Sooriyapathirana, Prof., PhotosynQ LLC, USA
Matilde Barón Ayala, Dr., Estación Experimental del Zaidín (EZZ), Granada, Spain
Hamed Sattari Vayghan, PhD student in the Lab of Plant Physiology, University of Neuchâtel, CH

The study of the fluorescence of the chlorophyll gives a direct insight into the photosynthetic activity of a plant sample. This simple technique can be employed for a wide range of research projects and be a fast and non-invasive tool for the study of plant physiology. This technique can be employed, for example, for the investigation of the plant acclimation to different climatic conditions, their adaptation to specific ecological niches, to investigate the role of specific components of the photosynthetic machinery or chloroplast development.

The aim of the workshop is to give the participants some methodological and theoretical basis to envision how to employ chlorophyll fluorescence analysis in their research projects as a tool to monitor the physiological status of the plant.

The course will be adapted on the interest of the PhD students based on a pre-course questionnaire to investigate which kind of stress/condition would they like to investigate by chlorophyll fluorescence investigation ( pre-crouse question to be filled up 1 month before the workshop).

SCHEDULE: 9h00 - 18h00

Preliminary Program:

9h00 Introduction

9h15 Theory of the chlorophyll fluorescence (Giovanni Finazzi CEA Grenoble - [email protected])

In this session, the biological meaning of the measurements will be introduced, the most common parameters introduced and contextualized in terms of their meaning in the regulation of the photochemical electron transport.

10h10 Use of chlorophyll fluorescence to phenotype biotic stresses (Matilde Barón Ayala Estación Experimental del Zaidín Granada - [email protected])
This session will introduce the phenotypical analyses of plants following a biotic stress. Examples of different plant pathogens, virus, fungi and insects will be presented as case studies. Finally, will show how to combine chlorophyll fluorescence based techniques with other imaging techniques.

11h05 Coffee/Tea break

11h30 Presentation/sharing of the research project by the participants divided by group of interest (Light, Drought, Pathogens)
Each PhD student gives an outline of his/her investigation to the other members of the same group of interest.

13h00 Lunch Break

14h00 PhotosynQ Technology - measuring fluorescence in the field (Rachel Swanson, Suneth S. Sooriyapathirana and Colleen Rocha, PhotosynQ INC)
Technology miniaturization allows producing compact portable devices also for fluorescence analyses. PhotosynQ will illustrate how with their instrument MultispeQ is possible to study plant physiology in the open field and correlate those measurements to specific plant stresses.

15h00-15h15 Coffee/Tea Break

15h15-17h00 "Hands-on" session: The three groups of interests will join private online-rooms to follow live an experimental session using different tools to gain information on plant physiology experiencing differet stresses.

17h00 - 17h30 Conclusions from the experiments

Online course (Webex)

This course is organized in collaboration with the Interuniversity Doctoral Program in Organismal Biology (DP-Biol).

Registration is open and free for PhD students.
Maximum number of participants: 12
6 places available for CUSO MPS students

Deadline for registration: 27 November 2020
Please register through the DP-Biol webpage.

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For information on the course please contact the organizer Paolo Longoni or the doctoral program coordinator Pauline Fritsch and Debora Zoia (respect. DP-Biol and CUSO MPS).