Genotype Specific Photosynthesis x Environment Interactions Captured by Automated Fluorescence Canopy Scans Over Two Fluctuating Growing Seasons

Abstract

Photosynthesis reacts dynamic and in different time scales to changing conditions. Light and temperature acclimation balance photosynthetic processes in a complex interplay with the fluctuating environment. However, due to limitations in the measurements techniques, these acclimations are often described under steady-state conditions leading to inaccurate photosynthesis estimates in the field. Here we analyze the photosynthetic interaction with the fluctuating environment and canopy architecture over two seasons using a fully automated phenotyping system. We acquired over 700,000 chlorophyll fluorescence transients and spectral measurements under semi-field conditions in four crop species including 28 genotypes. As expected, the quantum efficiency of the photosystem II (F_v/F_m in the dark and F_q'/F_m' in the light) was determined by light intensity. It was further significantly affected by spectral indices representing canopy structure effects. In contrast, a newly established parameter, monitoring the efficiency of electron transport (F_r2/F_v in the dark respective F_r2'/F_q' in the light), was highly responsive to temperature (R² up to 0.75). This parameter decreased with temperature and enabled the detection of cold tolerant species and genotypes. We demonstrated the ability to capture and model the dynamic photosynthesis response to the environment over entire growth seasons. The improved linkage of photosynthetic performance to canopy structure, temperature and cold tolerance offers great potential for plant breeding and crop growth modeling.

Keywords: chlorophyll fluorescence; cold acclimation; electron transport; high-throughput phenotyping; photosynthesis x environment interactions.