High‐Throughput Precision Phenotyping of the Oil Content of Single Seeds of Various Oilseed Crops

Abstract

High‐throughput (HT) precision phenotyping of agronomic traits is important for well‐founded, rapid selection decisions in plant breeding. This applies especially to nondestructive measurement of single‐seed oil content, for which an HT platform has recently become available. The objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate the suitability of this HT platform for measuring seed mass, oil mass, and oil content in various oil crops, (ii) to determine the accuracy and repeatability of the measurements, and (iii) to discuss technical adjustments required for specific crops. Seeds of canola (Brassica napus L.), castor bean (Ricinus communis L.), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L), jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.), maize (Zea mays L.), soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) were measured repeatedly using a randomized complete block design. Additionally, the oil content of bulks of seeds from two crops was determined by wet chemistry analysis. Repeatability of all three traits recorded via the HT platform generally exceeded 98% in all seven crops. Oil content of bulks determined by wet chemistry analysis was almost perfectly correlated (R2 > 99.9%) with the mean of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements of single seeds from these bulks. To warrant precise results and smooth operation, yielding an average throughput of ∼600 seeds h−1, technical modifications in certain modules of the HT platform are required to accommodate the size, geometry, and oil content of seeds from different crops. In conclusion, the HT platform demonstrated high repeatability and accuracy of measurements, which opens up several fields of application in plant breeding.

Advancing the science of wheat quality evaluation using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and ultrasound‐based techniques

“…The use of high-field NMR to screen seeds and grains based on their quality characteristics, that is, protein content and quality, is not always feasible due to complicated procedures required for sample preparation as well as the cost of the required instruments (Gouilleux, Marchand, Charrier, Remaud, & Giraudeau, 2018;Marcone et al, 2013). This technique has been mostly used for quality characterization and screening of oilseeds (Horn et al, 2011;Melchinger et al, 2017Melchinger et al, , 2018Pedersen, Munck, & Engelsen, 2000), although a few studies have been conducted to examine the possibility of using LF-NMR for cereal screening (Brusewitz & Stone, 1987;Rolletschek et al, 2015). This technique has been mostly used for quality characterization and screening of oilseeds (Horn et al, 2011;Melchinger et al, 2017Melchinger et al, , 2018Pedersen, Munck, & Engelsen, 2000), although a few studies have been conducted to examine the possibility of using LF-NMR for cereal screening (Brusewitz & Stone, 1987;Rolletschek et al, 2015).…”

“…Advantages of using NMR-based methods include precise quantification of wheat quality traits; NMR-based techniques that are being developed for protein content prediction of seeds are nondestructive, and require only small samples sizes, and finally the method is considered a rapid procedure with minimal sample handling and no need for chemical extractions (Dai et al, 2017;Horn et al, 2011;Jia et al, 2017;Melchinger et al, 2018;Pedersen et al, 2000;Rolletschek et al, 2015;Weir et al, 2005). Advantages of using NMR-based methods include precise quantification of wheat quality traits; NMR-based techniques that are being developed for protein content prediction of seeds are nondestructive, and require only small samples sizes, and finally the method is considered a rapid procedure with minimal sample handling and no need for chemical extractions (Dai et al, 2017;Horn et al, 2011;Jia et al, 2017;Melchinger et al, 2018;Pedersen et al, 2000;Rolletschek et al, 2015;Weir et al, 2005).…”

“…Hence, low-field (magnet field < 0.5 Tesla) proton NMR (LF-NMR) has been considered as the most widely used type of NMR spectroscopy in screening seeds and grains based on their different contents of water and fat (Jia, Wang, Li, & Liu, 2017;Krishnan, Singh, Verma, Joshi, & Singh, 2014;Moore, Richards, & Rebetzke, 2015;Niu, Li, Chen, & Xu, 2014;Todt, Guthausen, Burk, Schmalbein, & Kamlowski, 2006;Wang et al, 2016Wang et al, , 2017. This technique has been mostly used for quality characterization and screening of oilseeds (Horn et al, 2011;Melchinger et al, 2017Melchinger et al, , 2018Pedersen, Munck, & Engelsen, 2000), although a few studies have been conducted to examine the possibility of using LF-NMR for cereal screening (Brusewitz & Stone, 1987;Rolletschek et al, 2015). Pedersen et al (2000) examined the capability of a benchtop low-field 1 H NMR to discern differences between various types of protons, for example., protons attached to water, oil, and protein, in several varieties of mustard seed and rapeseed.…”

“…The information gained from the aforementioned research studies could be used to help develop an LF-NMR-based wheat screening method for performance quality. Advantages of using NMR-based methods include precise quantification of wheat quality traits; NMR-based techniques that are being developed for protein content prediction of seeds are nondestructive, and require only small samples sizes, and finally the method is considered a rapid procedure with minimal sample handling and no need for chemical extractions (Dai et al, 2017;Horn et al, 2011;Jia et al, 2017;Melchinger et al, 2018;Pedersen et al, 2000;Rolletschek et al, 2015;Weir et al, 2005). In summary, there is a need for a more comprehensive investigation of the potential of NMR-based methods, including LF-NMR, to screen wheat grains with respect to their protein content and composition, as the method is more precise due to its unique ability to measure changes in protonbased molecular mobility.…”

Early diagnosis of ploidy status in doubled haploid production of maize by stomata length and flow cytometry measurements

“…However, the misclassification rates associated with this marker system can be quite substantial (≥30%) depending on the germplasm (Chaikam, Martinez, Melchinger, Schipprack, & Boddupalli, ; Prigge et al, ) or classification may even be impossible due to inhibitory genes such as C1‐I present in some source germplasm (Chaikam et al, ; Paz‐Ares, Ghosal, & Saedler, ). Development of inducers equipped with the red root marker (Chaikam et al, ) or high oil content of the seed (Melchinger, Schipprack, Würschum, Chen, & Technow, ) and sorting of seeds from induction crosses based on their oil content (Melchinger, Böhm et al, ; Melchinger, Munder et al, ) help to reduce the misclassification rates (Melchinger et al, ), but undesirable C seeds (=false positives) can still occur at considerable rates, depending on the source germplasm and inducer. As a result, varying proportions of C seeds are planted in the field after chromosome doubling and must be rogued later in the nursery.…”