Quantitative MRI imaging of parenchyma and venation networks in Brassica napus leaves: effects of development and dehydration.

Background: Characterisation of the structure and water status of leaf tissues is essential to the understanding of leaf hydraulic functioning under optimal and stressed conditions. Magnetic Resonance Imaging is unique in its capacity to access this information in a spatially resolved, non-invasive and non-destructive way. The purpose of this study was to develop an original approach based on transverse relaxation mapping by Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the detection of changes in water status and distribution at cell and tissue levels in Brassica napus leaves during blade development and dehydration.