Detail Project and Funding

Abstract: ID-SWAP proposes an innovative optical platform inspired to the hydraulic mechanism of vascular plants to generate negative-pressure in water and measure its physical properties with extreme precision. The system exploits the unique capability of photonic crystal optical fibers (PCFs) to trap a liquid in their microchannels while supporting a guided light mode that interacts with it. As a laser-driven evaporation technique stretches the PCF-infiltrated water to the limits of its cohesive strength, a Michelson interferometer monitors in real-time its refractive index, density and pressure. Besides the characterization of stretched water in stationary conditions, ID-SWAP represents a unique opportunity to study the response of plant’s vascular water to changing external conditions, like strong evaporation or drought. For this task, the infiltrated PCF will be grafted to a live leaf, thus acting as an artificial xylem, to test whether the stretching of vascular water (in absence of root derived hormones) can trigger the leaf stomatal closure. ID-SWAP thus represents the first endeavor to demonstrate that water in vascular plants also acts as an information network.