Use of water extraction variability to screen for sunflower genotypes well adapted to soil water limitation.

In conditions of water deficit, plant yield depends mostly on the ability of the plant to explore soil profile and its water uptake capacity per unit volume of soil. In this study, the value of soil water extraction properties for use in sunflower breeding was evaluated. Five experiments were carried out in pots, in greenhouses, from 2005 to 2009, in Montpellier, France.

Quantifying physiological determinants of genetic variation for yield potential in sunflower. SUNFLO: a model-based analysis.

Present work focussed on improving the description of organogenesis, morphogenesis and metabolism in a biophysical plant model (SUNFLO) applied to sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). This first version of the model is designed for potential growth conditions without any abiotic or biotic stresses.

Estimation of light interception in research environments: a joint approach using directional light sensors and 3D virtual plants applied to sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and Arabidopsis thaliana in natural and artificial conditions.

Light interception is a major factor influencing plant development and biomass production. Several methods have been proposed to determine this variable, but its calculation remains difficult in artificial environments with heterogeneous light. We propose a method that uses 3D virtual plant modelling and directional light characterisation to estimate light interception in highly heterogeneous light environments such as growth chambers and glasshouses.

High temperature and water deficit may reduce seed number in field pea purely by decreasing plant growth rate.

Seed number, the most variable yield component of legumes is strongly affected by heat stress (HS) and water deficit (WD). The objective of this paper is to investigate whether HS and WD reduced seed number in field pea through their negative effects on biomass production rather than by specific effects on the developing reproductive organs. Several field and glasshouse experiments were carried out in southern France, in which HS and / or WD of various intensities, durations and positions in the plant lifecycle were imposed on several pea cultivars.