Projects per year
Abstract
Wheat and barley are two of the founder crops domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, and currently represent crops of major economic importance in temperate regions. Due to impacts on yield, quality and end-use, grain morphometric traits remain an important goal for modern breeding programmes and are believed to have been selected for by human populations. To directly and accurately assess the three-dimensional (3D) characteristics of grains, we combine X-ray microcomputed tomography (μCT) imaging techniques with bespoke image analysis tools and mathematical modelling to investigate how grain size and shape vary across wild and domesticated wheat and barley. We find that grain depth and, to a lesser extent, width are major drivers of shape change and that these traits are still relatively plastic in modern bread wheat varieties. Significant changes in grain depth are also observed to be associated with differences in ploidy. Finally, we present a model that can accurately predict the wild or domesticated status of a grain from a given taxa based on the relationship between three morphometric parameters (length, width and depth) and suggest its general applicability to both archaeological identification studies and breeding programmes.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 98-111 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Plant Journal |
Volume | 99 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 10 Apr 2019 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 01 Jul 2019 |
Keywords
- X-ray micro computed tomography
- μCT
- wheat
- barley
- domestication
- grain traits
- phenomics
- X-ray microcomputed tomography
- Edible Grain/metabolism
- Triticum/metabolism
- Crops, Agricultural/metabolism
- Domestication
- X-Ray Microtomography
- Ploidies
- Hordeum/metabolism
- Principal Component Analysis
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'μCT trait analysis reveals morphometric differences between domesticated temperate small grain cereals and their wild relatives'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 3 Finished
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ISPG-National Phenomics Centre see project 12520
Doonan, J. (PI), Camargo-Rodriguez, A. (CoI), Clare, A. (CoI), Draper, J. (CoI), Howarth, C. (CoI), Powell, W. (CoI), Swain, M. (CoI) & Zwiggelaar, R. (CoI)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
01 Apr 2017 → 31 Mar 2019
Project: Externally funded research
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BBSRC Core Strategic Programme in Resilient Crops: Oats
Howarth, C. (PI)
01 Apr 2017 → 31 Mar 2022
Project: Externally funded research
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Improving models and plant phenotyping for smart agriculture under abiotic stress and co2 (MODCARBOSTRESS)
Doonan, J. (PI)
31 Mar 2015 → 30 Mar 2018
Project: Externally funded research