DETECTION OF PLANT STRESS BY CHLOROPHYLL FLUORESCENCE

Plant growth and development are dynamic processes which are continuously changed by environmental conditions. Agricultural crops are subjected to abiotic stresses, such as increasing temperature, water, salinity, heavy metals and ozone. Nowadays, modern non-invasive methods allow rapidly monitor and evaluate plant stress responses. Chlorophyll fluorescence imaging has become one of the most powerful and popular tools to track changes in the photosynthetic capacities of plants in response to abiotic and biotic factors. In contrast to traditional methods, chlorophyll fluorescence is less laborious, less time consuming and thereby highly useful for large scale screening experiments. Here, we show its application in the evaluation of Arabidopsis thaliana plants in response to various abiotic stressors.