Sep 16, 2019

Novel use of laser technology reveals interactions between roots, soil organisms

A novel use of a custom laser system — developed in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences eight years ago — allows researchers to see how soil organisms affect plant roots.

A good example of cross-sectional images yielded by laser ablation tomography. These show a corn root with a western corn rootworm and damage resulting from this herbivore. Using RGB spectra measured from these images, researchers can separate the rootworm from root tissue, and assess damaged regions from intact tissue. IMAGE: CHRISTOPHER STROCK/PENN STATE