Spatially resolved analysis of growth dynamics in pome and drupe fruits of Rosaceae using 3D Gaussian Splatting

Abstract

Fruit growth has long been described using single- or double-sigmoid curves; however, these temporal models cannot fully capture the spatial heterogeneity that ultimately shapes a fruit. Here, we present a three-dimensional analysis pipeline that non-destructively tracks spatial fruit growth dynamics from field-collected imaginary. Surface landmarks were drawn, and video recordings were taken throughout development for three pome fruits, apple ( Malus × domestica ), Japanese pear ( Pyrus pyrifolia ) and European pear ( Pyrus communis ), and two drupe fruits, peach ( Prunus persica ) and Japanese apricot ( Prunus mume ), to track their motion. Using 3D Gaussian Splatting, we successfully reconstructed 3D models of the fruits, and the landmark displacement could be measured with high accuracy, with R 2 ≥ 0.98 when compared to manual recordings. We found a common spatial growth gradient in the longitudinal growth shared in the pomes and drupes of the Rosaceae; proximal (stem-end) regions exhibited more pronounced growth than the distal (stylar) end. An exception was found in European pear ‘Bartlett,’ which showed relatively vigorous growth in the distal region, explaining its distinct shape with expanded distal end. Transverse expansion varied far less than longitudinal expansion, with a possible association with initial fruit morphology. Inter-fruit growth variability peaked in the fastest-growing regions, particularly in the distal area of the European pear, highlighting the link between growth vigor and phenotypic variance. These results provide foundational insights into the developmental dynamics of both pome and drupe fruits of the Rosaceae family, contributing to the optimization of fruit size, shape, and uniformity.

Plant phenotyping relevance

3D Gaussian Splattingを用いて果実の3D再構成と空間的成長形質の非破壊計測パイプラインを開発し、手動記録との精度比較で検証しているため、フェノタイピング手法が中心である。

Code and data availability

The paper's data availability statement deposits a subset of the generated 3DGS fruit reconstruction models (the paper's phenotyping outputs) on Figshare with a public DOI; additional data is request-only. No author analysis code is explicitly deposited.