IMAGING THE K, MG, NA AND CA DISTRIBUTIONS IN FLAX SEEDS USING SIMS MICROSCOPY

Taking advantage of the sensitivity, the lateral resolution and the ab ility of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) for elemental imaging, we have shown that the main alkaline and all;aline-earth cations exhi bited clear-cut regionalization in flax seeds. Calcium, and even more magnesium were almost exclusively located within the protein bodies (P Bs); and they were practically absent from the tissue areas with no PB s, such as the provascular tissue. By contrast, sodium was almost excl usively located outside the PBs; moreover, most of the seed sodium was in the tissues at the seed periphery (chiefly the teguments). Among t he studied cations, potassium was the only one with a non-negligible c oncentration both in and outside the PBs.