TY - JOUR

T1 - Changes in the vertical distribution of leaf area enhanced light interception efficiency in maize over generations of selection

AU - Perez, Raphaël P.A.

AU - Fournier, Christian

AU - Cabrera-Bosquet, Llorenç

AU - Artzet, Simon

AU - Pradal, Christophe

AU - Brichet, Nicolas

AU - Chen, Tsu Wei

AU - Chapuis, Romain

AU - Welcker, Claude

AU - Tardieu, François

N1 - Funding Information: 0012) and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche Project ANR‐10‐ BTBR‐01 (Amaizing). F. T. was also supported by the EU Project H2020 731013 (EPPN2020). We are grateful to all members at the DIAPHEN and PhenoArch platforms for providing technical support, conducting the experiments, and collecting data. Funding Information: European Commission, Grant/Award Number: H2020 731013; EU; Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Grant/Award Numbers: ANR‐10‐ BTBR‐01 and ANR‐11‐INBS‐0012; National Research Agency, Grant/Award Number: ANR‐ 11‐INBS‐0012 Funding Information: Phenome funded by the National Research Agency (ANR‐11‐INBS‐ Funding Information: This work was supported by the “Infrastructure Biologie Santé” Funding Information: This work was supported by the ?Infrastructure Biologie Sant?? Phenome funded by the National Research Agency (ANR-11-INBS-0012) and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche Project ANR-10-BTBR-01 (Amaizing). F. T. was also supported by the EU Project H2020 731013 (EPPN2020). We are grateful to all members at the DIAPHEN and PhenoArch platforms for providing technical support, conducting the experiments, and collecting data.

PY - 2019/7

Y1 - 2019/7

N2 - Breeders select for yield, thereby indirectly selecting for traits that contribute to it. We tested if breeding has affected a range of traits involved in plant architecture and light interception, via the analysis of a panel of 60 maize hybrids released from 1950 to 2015. This was based on novel traits calculated from reconstructions derived from a phenotyping platform. The contribution of these traits to light interception was assessed in virtual field canopies composed of 3D plant reconstructions, with a model tested in a real field. Two categories of traits had different contributions to genetic progress. (a) The vertical distribution of leaf area had a high heritability and showed a marked trend over generations of selection. Leaf area tended to be located at lower positions in the canopy, thereby improving light penetration and distribution in the canopy. This potentially increased the carbon availability to ears, via the amount of light absorbed by the intermediate canopy layer. (b) Neither the horizontal distribution of leaves in the relation to plant rows nor the response of light interception to plant density showed appreciable trends with generations. Hence, among many architectural traits, the vertical distribution of leaf area was the main indirect target of selection.

AB - Breeders select for yield, thereby indirectly selecting for traits that contribute to it. We tested if breeding has affected a range of traits involved in plant architecture and light interception, via the analysis of a panel of 60 maize hybrids released from 1950 to 2015. This was based on novel traits calculated from reconstructions derived from a phenotyping platform. The contribution of these traits to light interception was assessed in virtual field canopies composed of 3D plant reconstructions, with a model tested in a real field. Two categories of traits had different contributions to genetic progress. (a) The vertical distribution of leaf area had a high heritability and showed a marked trend over generations of selection. Leaf area tended to be located at lower positions in the canopy, thereby improving light penetration and distribution in the canopy. This potentially increased the carbon availability to ears, via the amount of light absorbed by the intermediate canopy layer. (b) Neither the horizontal distribution of leaves in the relation to plant rows nor the response of light interception to plant density showed appreciable trends with generations. Hence, among many architectural traits, the vertical distribution of leaf area was the main indirect target of selection.

KW - architectural traits

KW - breeding

KW - high-throughput phenotyping

KW - light interception

KW - maize (Zea mays L.)

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064575065&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/pce.13539

DO - 10.1111/pce.13539

M3 - Article

C2 - 30801738

AN - SCOPUS:85064575065

VL - 42

SP - 2105

EP - 2119

JO - Plant, Cell and Environment

JF - Plant, Cell and Environment

SN - 0140-7791

IS - 7

ER -