Nanometer accuracy statistical interferometric technique in monitoring the short-term effects of exogenous plant hormones, auxin and gibberellic acid, on rice plants.

Statistical interferometric technique (SIT) is a highly sensitive, high speed non-contact, and non-destructive optical technique developed by our group capable of measuring instantaeoues sub-nanometer displacements. SIT applied to plant leaf elongation revealed nanometric intrinsic fluctuaitons (NIF) that are robust and sensitive to variations in the environment making NIF as a measure of healthiness of the plants. In this study, exogenous plant hormones, auxin (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid-2,4-D), and gibberellic acid (GA), along with an auxin transport inhibitor 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid-TIBA, that affect plant growth were used to investigate their effects on NIF.