Technology Partnership of Nagoya University, Inc.

Micro controller-based plant phenotyping system for the evaluation of crop water use and biomass production.

Understanding water use characteristics of C3 and C4 crops is important for food security under climate change. Our recent work revealed that rapid stomatal closure could reduce unnecessary water loss and contribute to higher water use efficiency in major C4 compared to C3 Poaceae crops. However, high-end instruments for the evaluation of water use characteristics are usually low throughput. Here, we developed microcontroller-based plant phenotyping systems that enables high-throughput and low-cost evaluation of plant water use characteristics in both growth chambers and field. In the first topic, I will introduce the case study of the present systems to assess water use characteristics and stress tolerance in rice, maize, and soybean.

 

Evaluating field-scale biomass production is also important for breeding high-yielding crop varieties. We have developed a novel technique to determine rice LAI (leaf area index) nondestructively and accurately throughout growth period in paddy field by continuous measurements of near-infrared radiation (NIR) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) in rice canopy. Using this technique, it was revealed that maintaining high LAI throughout the growth period could lead to higher grain yield. Another important factor influencing rice grain yield is maintenance respiration which could reduce the amount of assimilates available for growth and yield. In the second topic, I will introduce microcontroller-based respiration measurement system that enables continuous measurements of rice respiration throughout night period.

 

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Selected Publication

• Ozeki K, Miyazawa Y, Sugiura D* (2022). Rapid stomatal closure contributes to higher water use efficiency in C4 compared to C3 major Poaceae crops. Plant Physiology 189, 188-203.

• Fukuda S, Koba K, Okamura M, Watanabe Y, Hosoi J, Nakagomi K, Maeda H, Kondo M, Sugiura D* (2021). Novel technique for non-destructive LAI estimation by continuous measurement of NIR and PAR in rice canopy. Field Crops Research, 263, 108070.

• Sugiura D*, Terashima I, John R Evans (2020). A decrease in mesophyll conductance by cell wall thickening contributes to photosynthetic down-regulation. Plant Physiology, 183, 1600-1611.

 

Full list of Publication

Google Scholar

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Official Website

https://sites.google.com/site/daisukesugiura/home (*Japanese only)