Abstract
We present digital imaging system (Hitachi Rice Imaging System; HIRIS) for phenotypic profiling of various mutant and transgenic plants. Our new software measures the expansion profile of a growing rice shoot automatically at high temporal resolution. It traces the growing shoot apex on the sequential images and leaves the position of orthographic projection on a data set. The data promptly showed us the overall elongation procedure versus time in coleoptile, first leaf and second leaf in early rice seedling development. Similarly, we measured the overall expansion procedure versus time in each leaf of a rice plant in the active tillering stage. Here we report that a brief light irradiation hastened the first leaf protrusion from coleoptile in etiolated seedling. In tillering stage, photoperiod affected the cycle of leaf appearance and maximum velocity of leaf elongation. This work was supported by grants of Rice Genome Project (SY-1108 and IP-1006).
