Fluorescent protein imaging is an indispensable tool in life science research, enabling visualization of protein movement and localization, gene expression, signaling pathways, protein-protein interactions and more. For simultaneous analysis of multiple proteins (i.e., multiplex imaging), a variety of fluorescent proteins that emit different colors (blue, green, yellow and red) have been developed.

However, the number of colors that can be distinguished simultaneously is limited, making it difficult to observe and distinguish multiple fluorescent proteins that emit similar colors. Now, researchers from WPI-ITbM at Nagoya University have demonstrated that overlapping colored fluorescent proteins can be distinguished within living plant cells using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM).

This research was published in Plant Physiology on July 30, 2026.