Plant phenomics and the need for physiological phenotyping across scales to narrow the genotype-to-phenotype knowledge gap.

Plants are affected by complex genome×environment×management interactions which determine phenotypic plasticity as a result of the variability of genetic components. Whereas great advances have been made in the cost-efficient and high-throughput analyses of genetic information and non-invasive phenotyping, the large-scale analyses of the underlying physiological mechanisms lag behind. The external phenotype is determined by the sum of the complex interactions of metabolic pathways and intracellular regulatory networks that is reflected in an internal, physiological, and biochemical phenotype.

Differences between winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) cultivars in nitrogen starvation-induced leaf senescence are governed by leaf-inherent rather than root-derived signals.

Nitrogen (N) efficiency of winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) line-cultivars (cvs.), defined as high grain yield under N limitation, has been primarily attributed to maintained N uptake during reproductive growth (N uptake efficiency) in combination with delayed senescence of the older leaves accompanied with maintained photosynthetic capacity (functional stay-green).

Ectopic overexpression of the cell wall invertase gene CIN1 leads to dehydration avoidance in tomato.

Drought stress conditions modify source-sink relations, thereby influencing plant growth, adaptive responses, and consequently crop yield. Invertases are key metabolic enzymes regulating sink activity through the hydrolytic cleavage of sucrose into hexose monomers, thus playing a crucial role in plant growth and development. However, the physiological role of invertases during adaptation to abiotic stress conditions is not yet fully understood.

Hormonal and metabolic regulation of tomato fruit sink activity and yield under salinity.

Salinization of water and soil has a negative impact on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) productivity by reducing growth of sink organs and by inducing senescence in source leaves. It has been hypothesized that yield stability implies the maintenance or increase of sink activity in the reproductive structures, thus contributing to the transport of assimilates from the source leaves through changes in sucrolytic enzymes and their regulation by phytohormones.