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Semi-automated 3D leaf reconstruction and analysis of trichome patterning from light microscopic images.

Authors :
Henrik Failmezger
Benjamin Jaegle
Andrea Schrader
Martin Hülskamp
Achim Tresch
Source :
PLoS Computational Biology, Vol 9, Iss 4, p e1003029 (2013)
Publication Year :
2013
Publisher :
Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2013.

Abstract

Trichomes are leaf hairs that are formed by single cells on the leaf surface. They are known to be involved in pathogen resistance. Their patterning is considered to emerge from a field of initially equivalent cells through the action of a gene regulatory network involving trichome fate promoting and inhibiting factors. For a quantitative analysis of single and double mutants or the phenotypic variation of patterns in different ecotypes, it is imperative to statistically evaluate the pattern reliably on a large number of leaves. Here we present a method that enables the analysis of trichome patterns at early developmental leaf stages and the automatic analysis of various spatial parameters. We focus on the most challenging young leaf stages that require the analysis in three dimensions, as the leaves are typically not flat. Our software TrichEratops reconstructs 3D surface models from 2D stacks of conventional light-microscope pictures. It allows the GUI-based annotation of different stages of trichome development, which can be analyzed with respect to their spatial distribution to capture trichome patterning events. We show that 3D modeling removes biases of simpler 2D models and that novel trichome patterning features increase the sensitivity for inter-accession comparisons.

Subjects

Subjects :
Biology (General)
QH301-705.5

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1553734X and 15537358
Volume :
9
Issue :
4
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
PLoS Computational Biology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.b057896f280e49929cbc0bf3a40cb445
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003029