High-throughput canopy and below ground phenotyping of a set of peanut CSSLs detects lines with increased pod weight and foliar disease tolerance

Authors: GIMODE, DAVIS - University Of Georgia; CHU, Y - University Of Georgia; Holbrook, Carl - Corley; FONCEKA, D - Institut Senegalais De Recherches Agricoles; PORTER, W - University Of Georgia; DOBREVA, ILIYANA - The Ohio State University; TEARE, BRODY - Texas A&M University; RUIZ-GUMAN, HENEY - Texas A&M University; HAYS, DIRK - Texas A&M University; OZIAS-AKINS, P - University Of Georgia

Submitted to: Agronomy
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/21/2023
Publication Date: 4/26/2023
Citation: Gimode, D., Chu, Y., Holbrook Jr, C.C., Fonceka, D., Porter, W., Dobreva, I., Teare, B., Ruiz-Guman, H., Hays, D., Ozias-Akins, P. 2023. High-throughput canopy and below ground phenotyping of a set of peanut CSSLs detects lines with increased pod weight and foliar disease tolerance. Agronomy. 13(5). Article 1223. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13051223.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13051223

Interpretive Summary: The findings of this study highlight novel ways by which the peanut breeding pipeline can maintain and improve its current state. Examination of the CSSL population shows that alleles from peanut wild relatives can confer agronomically beneficial traits to the cultivated. Use of both aerial and below ground high throughput techniques have the potential to radically transform the peanut breeding pipeline by increasing speed and precision of phenotypic data acquisition. These techniques will facilitate identification and speedy release of novel and better adapted peanut varieties, hence improving the process of peanut breeding.

Technical Abstract: High throughput genomics aided breeding is being applied in peanut research. This has been facilitated by the recent development of high-quality genomic resources, a phenomenal feat considering the genetic heritage of cultivated peanut. Its recent polyploidization, self-pollinating breeding system, and domestication bottleneck have resulted in a crop with limited genetic diversity. To harness polymorphism from its wild relatives, a chromosome segment substitution line (CSSL) population was previously created via the tetraploid route to interspecific hybridization. We deployed field based high throughput phenotyping (HTP) techniques to acquire trait data for a subset of this population. Sensors mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) were used to derive various vegetative indices as well as canopy temperature. A combination of aerial imaging and manual scoring showed that CSSL 100, CSSL 84, CSSL 111 and CSSL 15 had remarkably low tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) incidence, a devastating disease in South Georgia. The four lines also performed well under leaf spot pressure. The vegetative indices strongly correlated with visual disease scores, indicating that aerial phenotyping is a reliable way of selecting under disease pressure. Since the yield components of peanut are below the soil surface, we deployed ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology to detect pods non-destructively. Moderate correlations between pod yield and data acquired from GPR signals were observed. Both the manually acquired pod data and GPR variables highlighted the 3 lines, CSSL 84, CSSL 100 and CSSL 111 as the best performing lines, with pod weights comparable to the cultivated check Tifguard. Through the combined application of manual and HTP techniques, this study reinforces the premise that chromosome segments from peanut wild relatives may be a potential source of valuable agronomic traits.