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Abstract Detail



Crops and Wild Relatives

Keaggy, Liam [1], Rubin, Matthew [2], DeHaan, Lee [3], Miller, Allison [4].

Characterizing patterns of variation and covariation in leaf spectral traits in two perennial grass species.

Plants are phenotypically diverse and characterizing variation is a main objective of many research studies. One set of seemingly invisible traits are leaf spectral traits which describe spectral and fluorescence characteristics of plants at scales that range from canopy-level to individual leaves. Understanding variation within and among species can illuminate differences that may result from genetic or environmental factors or a combination of both. To assess patterns of variation in and covariation across spectral traits, we selected two perennial species in the grass family (Poaceae). Specifically, we used 53 accessions of Thinopyrum intermedium (intermediate wheatgrass) and 20 accessions of Elymus glaucus (blue wild rye). We collected a single fully expanded leaf from ~seven replicate plants per accession (n=544 total samples) at five weeks post-germination. Each leaf was mounted on a black fabric image plate and dark acclimated for 15 minutes immediately prior to imaging using the CropReporter. The CropReporter simultaneously measures 18 spectral traits including Fv/Fm, Chlorophyll Index, Anthocyanin Index and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. We then collected data from each image using the PhenoVation CropReporter software. Following data collection, we used linear models to assess differences within and between the two species and tested for correlations among leaf spectral traits. We found variation within and across species for the majority of spectral traits investigated. In addition, the direction and magnitude of correlations between traits were variable and depended on both the specific pair of traits and the species. The next steps for this project are to test for associations between the measured leaf spectral traits and plant performance in the field. This work is part of a larger project in the Miller Lab centered on characterizing and comparing trait variation and covariation within and across life stages of perennial, herbaceous species with the ultimate goal of developing predictive models to expedite the breeding of new perennial crops.


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1 - Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Miller Lab, 975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO, 63132, USA
2 - Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, Miller Lab, St. Louis, MO, 63132, United States
3 - The Land Institute , 2440 E Water Well Road, Salina, KS, 67401 , USA
4 - Saint Louis Univ./Danforth Plant Science Center, Biology, 3507 Laclede Avenue, Macelwane Hall, St. Louis, MO, 63110, United States

Keywords:
perennial
Poaceae
Trait covariation
spectral traits.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P1, Crops and Wild Relatives Posters
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Monday, July 19th, 2021
Time: 5:00 PM(EDT)
Number: P1CW005
Abstract ID:698
Candidate for Awards:None


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