Workflow for phenotyping sugar beet roots by automated evaluation of cell characteristics and tissue arrangement using digital image processing.

Background: Cell characteristics, including cell type, size, shape, packing, cell-to-cell-adhesion, intercellular space, and cell wall thickness, influence the physical characteristics of plant tissues. Genotypic differences were found concerning damage susceptibility related to beet texture for sugar beet (Beta vulgaris). Sugar beet storage roots are characterized by heterogeneous tissue with several cambium rings surrounded by small-celled vascular tissue and big-celled sugar-storing parenchyma between the rings.

Yield Potential of Sugar Beet - Have We Hit the Ceiling?

The yield of sugar beet has continuously increased in the past decades. The question arises, whether this progress will continue in the future. A key factor for increasing yield potential of the crop is breeding progress.