Rapid On-Site Phenotyping via Field Fluorimeter Detects Differences in Photosynthetic Performance in a Hybrid—Parent Barley Germplasm Set

Abstract

Crop productivity can be expressed as the product of the amount of radiation intercepted, radiation use efficiency and harvest index. Genetic variation for components of radiation use efficiency has rarely been explored due to the lack of appropriate equipment to determine parameters at the scale needed in plant breeding. On the other hand, responses of the photosynthetic apparatus to environmental conditions have not been extensively investigated under field conditions, due to the challenges posed by the fluctuating environmental conditions. This study applies a rapid, low-cost, and reliable high-throughput phenotyping tool to explore genotypic variation for photosynthetic performance of a set of hybrid barleys and their parents under mild water-stress and unstressed field conditions. We found differences among the genotypic sets that are relevant for plant breeders and geneticists. Hybrids showed lower leaf temperature differential and higher non-photochemical quenching, resembling closer the male parents. The combination of traits detected in hybrids seems favorable, and could indicate improved photoprotection and better fitness under stress conditions. Additionally, we proved the potential of a low-cost, field-based phenotyping equipment to be used routinely in barley breeding programs for early screening for stress tolerance.

Plant phenotyping relevance

低コストの野外フルオリメータを用いた高スループット表現型計測が研究の中心であり、光合成性能やストレス耐性関連形質への適用可能性も評価している。

Code and data availability

The paper reports MultispeQ/PhotosynQ field chlorophyll fluorescence phenotyping of barley, but no public deposit of the paper's raw phenotype measurements or analysis code is stated. The supplementary materials link only contains a normality/homogeneity test table and device-mask photographs, not datasets or code. The

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