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Plants constantly balance taking in carbon dioxide with losing water through microscopic leaf pores, but watching this process unfold has long been a challenge.
For hundreds of years, scientists have understood that plants exchange gases with the air through tiny openings on their leaves known as stomata. These microscopic structures regulate a delicate tradeoff, allowing carbon dioxide to enter for photosynthesis while permitting water vapor to escape into the atmosphere.
Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have now created an advanced tool that makes it possible to observe and measure this balancing act as it happens, while precisely controlling the surrounding environment.
The work, published in the journal Plant Physiology, describes a new system called “Stomata In-Sight.” The technology addresses a persistent challenge in plant science by making it possible to track the minute movements of stomatal pores while also recording how much gas flows in and out of the leaf at the same time.
Stomata, whose name comes from the Greek word for “mouths,” play a central role in agriculture worldwide. Opening these pores allows plants to take in the carbon needed for growth, but it also increases water loss. Understanding how both the number of stomata and their behavior influence the efficiency of gas exchange is therefore essential for developing crops that use water more efficiently and can continue producing food, biofuel and bioproducts under drought conditions.
“Traditionally, we’ve had to choose between seeing the stomata or measuring their function,” explained the research team.
Earlier techniques typically relied on making leaf impressions (like taking a dental mold), which provide only a single moment in time, or on conventional microscopes that cannot control the environmental conditions around the leaf.
This limitation matters because stomata respond quickly to changes in light, temperature, humidity, and other environmental factors.
A Window into the Leaf
The new “Stomata In-Sight” system integrates three complex technologies into one:
- Live Confocal Microscopy: A powerful imaging technique that uses lasers to create detailed, three-dimensional views of living cells without slicing into the plant.
- Leaf Gas Exchange: High-precision sensors that measure exactly how much CO2 the leaf is taking in and how much water it is releasing.
- Environmental Control: A chamber that allows researchers to manipulate light, temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels to mimic real-world conditions.
By combining these, the team can watch exactly how the stomata respond to variation in the environment.
Why It Matters
This high-definition view of plant physiology could revolutionize how we breed crops.
By understanding the precise mechanical and chemical signals that cause stomata to open or close, and how that is influenced by the number of stomata on a leaf, scientists can identify genetic traits that lead to “smarter” plants—crops that use water most efficiently. That is crucial because water is the environmental factor that limits agricultural production the most.
Reference: “Stomata in-sight: Integrating live confocal microscopy with leaf gas exchange and environmental control” by Joseph D Crawford, Dustin Mayfield-Jones, Glenn A Fried, Nicolas Hernandez and Andrew D B Leakey, 17 November 2025, Plant Physiology.
DOI: 10.1093/plphys/kiaf600
The system was developed by Joseph D. Crawford, Dustin Mayfield-Jones, Glenn A. Fried, Nicolas Hernandez, and Andrew D.B. Leakey at the Department of Plant Biology and the Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois.
The work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation, the National Science Foundation, and a philanthropic gift.
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