Early detection of “Shadow flight syndrome” (SAS) in plants

Researchers from the Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) of Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) of the Singapore-MIT Research and Technology Alliance (SMART), MIT's research company in Singapore and the Science Laboratory of Temasek Life (TLL) have discovered a use Raman spectroscopy for early detection of shadow avoidance syndrome (SAS) in plants. The discovery can help farmers with timely intervention against SAS, leading to better plant health and crop yields.

SAS is an adaptive response and irreversible phenomenon, where plants seek more light to overcome shady conditions. It is commonly seen in plants experiencing vegetative shade which is detrimental to plant health as it leads to a number of problems including hindrances to leaf development, early flowering, and weakening of the plant's structure and immune system .

Therefore, early detection of SAS is key to sustainable agriculture and better crop yields. However, existing methods for the detection of SAS in plants are limited to observing structural changes, which makes the early detection of SAS difficult.

In an article titled “Rapid metabolite response in leaf blade and petiole as a marker of shade avoidance syndrome” published in the prestigious journal Plant Methods, SMART DiSTAP and TLL scientists explain their new way of detecting SAS from the beginning, allowing farmers to intervene in time to prevent the irreversible effects of SAS. The team built a benchtop Raman spectroscopy instrument that makes it possible to measure carotenoid levels in plants, which can indicate whether a plant has SAS.

"Our experiments with Raman spectroscopy detected a decrease in the carotenoid content of plants bearing SAS," said Dr. Gajendra Pratap Singh, co-author of the paper and DiSTAP's chief scientific officer and principal investigator. “While plants with longer exposure to shade developed more severe SAS, these morphological changes were only seen after one to three days. However, the changes in the maximum intensities of the carotenoids were detected much earlier, with only four hours of shade treatment.”

Raman spectroscopy and the carotenoid peak Raman allow early detection of shadow avoidance syndrome (SAS) in (a) the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and (b) the leafy vegetables Kai Lan and Choy Sum. Diagrams adapted from Sng et al., 2020. Plant Methods 16: 144. Credit: SMART

 

Using Raman spectroscopy, scientists can nondestructively measure carotenoid content in plant leaves and have discovered its correlation with the severity of SAS and as a maximum biomarker for early diagnosis. This reduces the time it takes to detect SAS from days to hours. The method can also be used to detect SAS in plants due to high-density plantations and can be particularly useful for improving urban agricultural practices.

"We conducted our experiments with various edible plants, including commonly eaten Asian vegetables such as Kai Lan and Choy Sum," said Mr. Benny Jian Rong Sng, a co-author of the paper and a doctoral student in Dr. In-In's group. Cheol Jang. at TLL and the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore. “Our results showed that Raman spectroscopy can be used to detect SAS, induced by shade and by high-density plantings. Regardless of the food crop, this technology can be applied to improve agriculture and meet the nutritional demands of today's growing population."

Dr. In-Cheol Jang, Principal Investigator of TLL and DiSTAP, who led the project, said the new discovery can go a long way in helping farmers improve urban farming practices. “We hope to help urban farmers achieve higher crop yields by detecting SAS in shorter time periods. By adopting precision and scalable agricultural technologies, such as Raman spectroscopy-enabled sensors, we can better position cities like Singapore to produce more produce with fewer resources, while achieving desirable nutrient profiles for global food security.”

DiSTAP Co-Principal Investigator Professor Chua Nam Hai and Principal Investigator Professor Rajeev Ram were also co-authors of the paper.

The research was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence And Technological Enterprise (CREATE) program.

Previous article

next article

ARTÍCULOS RELACIONADOS

Austral Cherry: Good Campaign for the Pretty Girl of Fruit Growing
The impact and supply of new genetics will be the main topic at the meeting...
Novel system to evaluate the impact of relative humidity on the pe...