This open access book is only an introduction to show that radiation and radioisotopes (RI) are
premier tools to study living plant physiology which leads to new findings. Who had ever
imagined that we could see water in a plant? Who had ever imagined that we could see ions
moving toward roots in solution? Who had ever imagined that we could see invisible gas (CO2)
fixation and movement in a plant? These studies demonstrated for the first time that water
ions and gas can be visualized in living plants which could be hardly seen by anyone before.
This publication summarizes the results obtained by Nakanishi's lab in The Univ. of Tokyo
based on her original concept and her original tools or systems. It is useful for professional
scientists plant physiologist and those studying plant imaging. The chapters demonstrates the
innovative imaging work of the author using radioactive tracers and neutron beam to follow the
absorption and transport manner of water as well as major minor and trace elements in plants.
Through these studies the author developed a real-time macroscopic and microscopic imaging
system able to apply commercially available gamma- and beta-ray emitters. The real-time
movement of the elements is now possible by using 14C 18F 22Na 28Mg 32P 33P 35S 42K
45Ca 48V 54Mn 55Fe 59Fe 65Zn 86Rb 109Cd and 137Cs. The imaging methods was applied to
study the effect of 137Cs following 3 11 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident which has
revealed the movements of radiocesium in the contaminated sites.
