Soil salinity causes an estimated $27 billion in agricultural losses every year, and these losses are predicted to be exacerbated by climate change. Brassica rapa is an important oil seed and vegetable crop that includes leafy greens such as bok choy. How B. rapa reacts to abiotic stresses such as soil salinity could greatly affect its use and growth in the agricultural community. We analyze the effects of soil salinity on B. rapa leaf shape throughout the plant’s development. Our study is conducted in a genetic mapping of a population of B. rapa that includes 188 fully sequenced genotypes. Using these genotypes, we grew 3,500 plants with and without salt water, and destructively sampled the same leaf at three different developmental time-points for 3x replication of each genotype, treatment, and time-point. At each time-point, we imaged one leaf per plant. We converted the images to a binary black and white format and imported them into R. We then conducted a morphometric analysis of leaf shape to look for noticeable variation in leaf outlines. Future directions include testing for the effects of abiotic stress on leaf shape and performing quantitative trait mapping to identify the genetic architecture controlling leaf shape in B. rapa and its response to soil salinity.
Author: Kathryn Sullivan
Faculty Advisor: Rob Baker, Biology
Graduate Student Advisor: Tyler Thrash, Botany; Hansol Lee, EEEB
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