Hyperspectral imaging to characterize the vegetative tissue biochemical changes in response to water deficit conditions in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)

Hyperspectral imaging has been used to determine plant stress status. However, the biological interpretation of the spectral changes remain less explored. This can be addressed by building associations between stress-induced biochemical changes and variations in spectral reflectance. To this end, we...

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Main Authors: Yuvraj Chopra, Xinyan Xie, James Clothier, Souparno Ghosh, Hongfeng Yu, Harkamal Walia, Scott E. Sattler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Plant Science
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1515998/full
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author Yuvraj Chopra
Xinyan Xie
James Clothier
Souparno Ghosh
Hongfeng Yu
Harkamal Walia
Scott E. Sattler
Scott E. Sattler
author_facet Yuvraj Chopra
Xinyan Xie
James Clothier
Souparno Ghosh
Hongfeng Yu
Harkamal Walia
Scott E. Sattler
Scott E. Sattler
author_sort Yuvraj Chopra
collection DOAJ
description Hyperspectral imaging has been used to determine plant stress status. However, the biological interpretation of the spectral changes remain less explored. This can be addressed by building associations between stress-induced biochemical changes and variations in spectral reflectance. To this end, we tested spectral response of sorghum brown midrib (bmr) mutants under varying water stress levels using hyperspectral imaging (650–1650 nm). The bmr mutants have reduced lignin concentrations in their vegetative tissue which was reflected as spectral differences. Under water stress, the spectral signatures diverged more between the wildtype and mutants compared to control conditions. The genotype-dependent variation in spectral trends under water limitation was associated with differential sensitivity of the genotypes to water-limitation induced changes in energy density. We show that the energy density and relative water content of the plant tissue can be estimated accurately from spectral reflectance. To reduce the computational load, LASSO was used to obtain 22 wavelengths across the camera spectral range (650–1650 nm) in dried samples, to accurately predict energy density comparable to PLSR estimates. The reported wavelengths represent a useful screening tool for fast and reliable calorimetric estimations in bioenergy breeding programs.
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publishDate 2025-05-01
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spelling doaj-art-b9828c02a9a845388e2e8e4d304fe6f42025-08-20T03:12:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2025-05-011610.3389/fpls.2025.15159981515998Hyperspectral imaging to characterize the vegetative tissue biochemical changes in response to water deficit conditions in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)Yuvraj Chopra0Xinyan Xie1James Clothier2Souparno Ghosh3Hongfeng Yu4Harkamal Walia5Scott E. Sattler6Scott E. Sattler7Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesSchool of Computing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesDepartment of Statistics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesDepartment of Statistics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesSchool of Computing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesDepartment of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesDepartment of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United StatesWheat, Sorghum and Forage Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Lincoln, NE, United StatesHyperspectral imaging has been used to determine plant stress status. However, the biological interpretation of the spectral changes remain less explored. This can be addressed by building associations between stress-induced biochemical changes and variations in spectral reflectance. To this end, we tested spectral response of sorghum brown midrib (bmr) mutants under varying water stress levels using hyperspectral imaging (650–1650 nm). The bmr mutants have reduced lignin concentrations in their vegetative tissue which was reflected as spectral differences. Under water stress, the spectral signatures diverged more between the wildtype and mutants compared to control conditions. The genotype-dependent variation in spectral trends under water limitation was associated with differential sensitivity of the genotypes to water-limitation induced changes in energy density. We show that the energy density and relative water content of the plant tissue can be estimated accurately from spectral reflectance. To reduce the computational load, LASSO was used to obtain 22 wavelengths across the camera spectral range (650–1650 nm) in dried samples, to accurately predict energy density comparable to PLSR estimates. The reported wavelengths represent a useful screening tool for fast and reliable calorimetric estimations in bioenergy breeding programs.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1515998/fullhyperspectral imagingwater contentenergy concentrationchemical sensingmachine learninglignin
spellingShingle Yuvraj Chopra
Xinyan Xie
James Clothier
Souparno Ghosh
Hongfeng Yu
Harkamal Walia
Scott E. Sattler
Scott E. Sattler
Hyperspectral imaging to characterize the vegetative tissue biochemical changes in response to water deficit conditions in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)
Frontiers in Plant Science
hyperspectral imaging
water content
energy concentration
chemical sensing
machine learning
lignin
title Hyperspectral imaging to characterize the vegetative tissue biochemical changes in response to water deficit conditions in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)
title_full Hyperspectral imaging to characterize the vegetative tissue biochemical changes in response to water deficit conditions in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)
title_fullStr Hyperspectral imaging to characterize the vegetative tissue biochemical changes in response to water deficit conditions in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)
title_full_unstemmed Hyperspectral imaging to characterize the vegetative tissue biochemical changes in response to water deficit conditions in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)
title_short Hyperspectral imaging to characterize the vegetative tissue biochemical changes in response to water deficit conditions in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)
title_sort hyperspectral imaging to characterize the vegetative tissue biochemical changes in response to water deficit conditions in sorghum sorghum bicolor
topic hyperspectral imaging
water content
energy concentration
chemical sensing
machine learning
lignin
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1515998/full
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