Affiliation:
1. Information Technology Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China.
2. Beijing Key Lab of Digital Plant, National Engineering Research Center for Information Technology in Agriculture, Beijing 100097, China.
3. Beijing Key Laboratory of Maize DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid) Fingerprinting and Molecular Breeding, Maize Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China.
Abstract
Marked variations in the 3-dimensional (3D) shape of corn leaves can be discerned as a function of various influences, including genetics, environmental factors, and the management of cultivation processes. However, the causes of these variations remain unclear, primarily due to the absence of quantitative methods to describe the 3D spatial morphology of leaves. To address this issue, this study acquired 3D digitized data of ear-position leaves from 478 corn inbred lines during the grain-filling stage. We propose quantitative calculation methods for 13 3D leaf shape features, such as the leaf length, 3D leaf area, leaf inclination angle, blade-included angle, blade self-twisting, blade planarity, and margin amplitude. Correlation analysis, cluster analysis, and heritability analysis were conducted among the 13 leaf traits. Leaf morphology differences among subpopulations of the inbred lines were also analyzed. The results revealed that the 3D leaf traits are capable of revealing the morphological differences among different leaf surfaces, and the genetic analysis revealed that 84.62% of the 3D phenotypic traits of ear-position leaves had a heritability greater than 0.3. However, the majority of 3D leaf shape traits were strongly affected by environmental conditions. Overall, this study quantitatively investigated 3D leaf shape in corn, providing a reliable basis for further research on the genetic regulation of corn leaf morphology and advancing the understanding of the complex interplay among crop genetics, phenotypes, and the environment.
Funder
National Key R&D Program of China
Special Fund for Scientific Innovation Strategy-Construction of High-level Academy of Agriculture Science
Innovative Research Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)