Chemical analysis of soybean seeds, somatic embryos and single cells were carried out by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), Fourier Transform Near Infrared (FT-NIR) Microspectroscopy, Fluorescence and High-Resolution NMR (HR-NMR). The first FT-NIR chemical images of biological systems approaching 1 micron (1μ) resolution are presented here. Chemical images obtained by FT-NIR and FT-IR Microspectroscopy are presented for oil in soybean seeds and somatic embryos under physiological conditions. FT-NIR spectra of oil and proteins were obtained for volumes as small as 2μ3. Related, HR-NMR analyses of oil contents in somatic embryos are also presented here with nanoliter precision. Such 400 MHz 1H NMR analyses allowed the selection of... |