Abstract
Functional–structural plant modeling (FSPM) is a fast and dynamic method to predict plant growth under varying environmental conditions. Temperature is a primary factor affecting the rate of plant development. In the present study, we used three different temperature treatments (10/14°C, 18/22°C, and 26/30°C) to test the effect of temperature on growth and development of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) seedlings. Plants were sampled at regular intervals (every 3 days) to obtain growth data during the length of the experiment (1 month in total). Total leaf dry mass, leaf area, leaf mass per area (LMA), width-length ratio, and the ratio of petiole length to leaf blade length (PBR), were determined and statistically analyzed, and contributed to a morphometric database. LMA under high temperature was significantly smaller than LMA under medium and low temperature, while leaves at high temperature were significantly broader. An FSPM of rapeseed seedlings featuring a growth function used for leaf extension and biomass accumulation was implemented by combining measurement with literature data. The model delivered new insights into growth and development dynamics of winter oilseed rape seedlings. The present version of the model mainly focuses on the growth of plant leaves. However, future extensions of the model could be used in practice to better predict plant growth in spring and potential cold damage of the crop.
Highlights
Winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) is an important oilseed and fodder crop worldwide (Zhang and Wu, 2007), because of its high oil yield, and because the oil has a high nutritious value, due to the presence of different kinds of aliphatic acids and vitamins (Yang and Tu, 2003)
High temperature leads to a decrease in carboxylation rate as it decreases the specificity of Rubisco for CO2 (Lambers et al, 2008), whereas low temperature affects the sucrose metabolism, which leads to accumulation of phosphorylated intermediates and reduces inorganic phosphates
We investigated the growth and development of young winter oilseed rape plants under different temperature treatments, with a special consideration of the morphology of leaves of different ranks
Summary
Winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) is an important oilseed and fodder crop worldwide (Zhang and Wu, 2007), because of its high oil yield (between 40 and 50% of dry mass of seeds), and because the oil has a high nutritious value, due to the presence of different kinds of aliphatic acids and vitamins (Yang and Tu, 2003). This makes rapeseed oil a very important and healthy ingredient for human nutrition, with a long history as edible oil in Asia and Europe. In order to avoid a potentially considerable reduction in production, it is important to be able to predict accurately the phenological stage and the topological and geometrical structure of the plant during this period, in order to better assess recovery and survival rates of the crop, which are pivotal for ultimate yield
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