Comparison of visible imaging, thermography and spectrometry methods to evaluate the effect of Heterodera schachtii inoculation on sugar beets

Abstract Background Phenotyping technologies are expected to provide predictive power for a range of applications in plant and crop sciences. Here, we use the disease pressure of Beet Cyst Nematodes (BCN) on sugar beet as an illustrative example to test the specific capabilities of different methods. Strong links between the above and belowground parts of sugar beet plants have made BCN suitable targets for use of non-destructive phenotyping methods. We compared the ability of visible light imaging, thermography and spectrometry to evaluate the effect of BCN on the growth of sugar beet plants. Results Two microplot experiments were sown with the nematode susceptible cultivar Aimanta and the nematode tolerant cultivar BlueFox under semi-field conditions. Visible imaging, thermal imaging and spectrometry were carried out on BCN infested and non-infested plants at different times during the plant development. Effects of a chemical nematicide were also evaluated using the three phenotyping methods. Leaf and beet biomass were measured at harvest. For both susceptible and tolerant cultivar, canopy area extracted from visible images was the earliest nematode stress indicator. Using such canopy area parameter, delay in leaf growth as well as benefit from a chemical nematicide could be detected already 15 days after sowing. Spectrometry was suitable to identify the stress even when the canopy reached full coverage. Thermography could only detect stress on the susceptible cultivar. Spectral Vegetation Indices related to canopy cover (NDVI and MCARI2) and chlorophyll content (CHLG) were correlated with the final yield (R = 0.69 on average for the susceptible cultivar) and the final nematode population in the soil (R = 0.78 on average for the susceptible cultivar). Conclusion In this paper we compare the use of visible imaging, thermography and spectrometry over two cultivars and 2 years under outdoor conditions. The three different techniques have their specific strengths in identifying BCN symptoms according to the type of cultivars and the growth stages of the sugar beet plants. Early detection of nematicide benefit and high yield predictability using visible imaging and spectrometry suggests promising applications for agricultural research and precision agriculture

The mammalian gene function resource: the international knockout mouse consortium

In 2007, the International Knockout Mouse Consortium (IKMC) made the ambitious promise to generate mutations in virtually every protein-coding gene of the mouse genome in a concerted worldwide action. Now, 5 years later, the IKMC members have developed high-throughput gene trapping and, in particular, gene-targeting pipelines and generated more than 17,400 mutant murine embryonic stem (ES) cell clones and more than 1,700 mutant mouse strains, most of them conditional. A common IKMC web portal (www.knockoutmouse.org) has been established, allowing easy access to this unparalleled biological resource. The IKMC materials considerably enhance functional gene annotation of the mammalian genome and will have a major impact on future biomedical research