Crozier Daniel, Riera-Lizarazu Oscar, Rooney William L
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
Department of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
Plant Methods. 2022 Jan 11;18(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s13007-022-00837-7.
The structural characteristics of whole sorghum kernels are known to affect end-use quality, but traditional evaluation of this structure is two-dimensional (i.e., cross section of a kernel). Current technology offers the potential to consider three-dimensional structural characteristics of grain. X-ray computed tomography (CT) presents one such opportunity to nondestructively extract quantitative data from grain caryopses which can then be related to end-use quality.
Phenotypic measurements were extracted from CT scans of grain sorghum caryopses. Extensive phenotypic variation was found for embryo volume, endosperm hardness, endosperm texture, endosperm volume, pericarp volume, and kernel volume. CT derived estimates were strongly correlated with ground truth measurements enabling the identification of genotypes with superior structural characteristics.
Presented herein is a phenotyping pipeline developed to quantify three-dimensional structural characteristics from grain sorghum caryopses which increases the throughput efficiency of previously difficult to measure traits. Adaptation of this workflow to other small-seeded crops is possible providing new and unique opportunities for scientists to study grain in a nondestructive manner which will ultimately lead to improvements end-use quality.
已知全高粱籽粒的结构特征会影响最终使用品质，但对这种结构的传统评估是二维的（即籽粒的横截面）。当前技术提供了考虑谷物三维结构特征的潜力。X射线计算机断层扫描（CT）提供了一个从谷物颖果中无损提取定量数据的机会，这些数据随后可与最终使用品质相关联。
从高粱颖果的CT扫描中提取了表型测量值。在胚体积、胚乳硬度、胚乳质地、胚乳体积、果皮体积和籽粒体积方面发现了广泛的表型变异。CT得出的估计值与实际测量值高度相关，从而能够识别具有优良结构特征的基因型。
本文介绍了一种用于量化高粱颖果三维结构特征的表型分析流程，该流程提高了以前难以测量的性状的通量效率。将此工作流程应用于其他小种子作物是可行的，为科学家提供了以无损方式研究谷物的新的独特机会，这最终将改善最终使用品质。
