Sweet Dorothy D, Tirado Sara B, Cooper Julian, Springer Nathan M, Hirsch Cory D, Hirsch Candice N
Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 55108, USA.
Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 55108, USA.
Plant J. 2024 Dec;120(5):1969-1986. doi: 10.1111/tpj.17092. Epub 2024 Oct 27.
Plant height can be an indicator of plant health across environments and used to identify superior genotypes. Typically plant height is measured at a single timepoint when plants reach terminal height. Evaluating plant height using unoccupied aerial vehicles allows for measurements throughout the growing season, facilitating a better understanding of plant-environment interactions and the genetic basis of this complex trait. To assess variation throughout development, plant height data was collected from planting until terminal height at anthesis (14 flights 2018, 27 in 2019, 12 in 2020, and 11 in 2021) for a panel of ~500 diverse maize inbred lines. The percent variance explained in plant height throughout the season was significantly explained by genotype (9-48%), year (4-52%), and genotype-by-year interactions (14-36%) to varying extents throughout development. Genome-wide association studies revealed 717 significant single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with plant height and growth rate at different parts of the growing season specific to certain phases of vegetative growth. When plant height growth curves were compared to growth curves estimated from canopy cover, greater Fréchet distance stability was observed in plant height growth curves than for canopy cover. This indicated canopy cover may be more useful for understanding environmental modulation of overall plant growth and plant height better for understanding genotypic modulation of overall plant growth. This study demonstrated that substantial information can be gained from high temporal resolution data to understand how plants differentially interact with the environment and can enhance our understanding of the genetic basis of complex polygenic traits.
株高可以作为衡量不同环境下植物健康状况的指标，并用于识别优良基因型。通常，株高是在植物达到最终高度时的单个时间点进行测量的。使用无人机评估株高可以在整个生长季节进行测量，有助于更好地理解植物与环境的相互作用以及这一复杂性状的遗传基础。为了评估整个发育过程中的变异，在2018年进行了14次飞行测量、2019年进行了27次、2020年进行了12次、2021年进行了11次，从种植到花期最终高度，收集了一组约500个不同玉米自交系的株高数据。在整个季节中，株高的变异百分比在不同程度上由基因型（9%-48%）、年份（4%-52%）以及基因型与年份的相互作用（14%-36%）显著解释。全基因组关联研究揭示了717个与株高和生长速率相关的显著单核苷酸多态性，这些多态性在营养生长特定阶段的生长季节不同时期出现。当将株高生长曲线与根据冠层覆盖估计的生长曲线进行比较时，发现株高生长曲线的弗雷歇距离稳定性比冠层覆盖更高。这表明冠层覆盖可能更有助于理解环境对整体植物生长的调节，而株高更有助于理解基因型对整体植物生长的调节。这项研究表明，从高时间分辨率数据中可以获得大量信息，以了解植物如何与环境进行不同的相互作用，并可以增强我们对复杂多基因性状遗传基础的理解。
