Exertion: flag leaf to panicle |
Being a
breeding program, naturally part of the job is to take phenotypic notes on the
plants as they grow, everything from days till flowering to how much head smut
is found in a plot. As a student worker, I’ve helped take some of the notes,
mostly quantitative data, which will then be analyzed later. The majority of
the notes that I helped with were of the height and exertion of the plant.
Taking the height is as simple as it sounds: we use a height stick with inches
to measure several plants within the plot, then take an average. Exertion is
measured from the flag leaf to a notch right below the panicle. The exertion,
which is also measured in inches, is a bit harder to take, simply because the
plants in a plot can vary significantly. The more experienced you get at taking
notes, the faster it becomes at judging an average for the plot.
Head Smut |
We also
took notes in our fields in Corpus Christi, which I was able to help with. We
did the usual height and exertion notes, but we also took notes on the
percentage of head smut in the plots. Head smut, like sorghum downy mildew, is
a fungus. It attacks the panicle and has a very distinctive look. The fungus
forms an enlarged, black, powdery-looking mass, so it’s definitely not hard to
tell if a plot is susceptible or resistant. Taking smut notes, like height and
exertion, becomes faster as you go along and within two days we were able to
take notes on both the fields that we needed to.
Check in
soon for my next post. Until next time, thanks and gig ‘em!
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