Predicting yield traits of individual field-grown Brassica napus plants from rosette-stage leaf gene expression

Background In the plant sciences, results of laboratory studies often do not translate well to the field because lab growth conditions are very different from field conditions. To help close this lab-field gap, we developed a new strategy for studying the wiring of plant traits directly in the field, based on molecular profiling and phenotyping of individual plants of the same genetic background grown in the same field. This single-plant omics strategy leverages uncontrolled micro-environmental variation across the field and stochastic variation among the individual plants as information sources, rather than controlled perturbations. Here, we use single-plant omics on winter-type Brassica napus (rapeseed) plants to investigate to what extent rosette-stage gene expression profiles can be linked to the early and late phenotypes of individual field-grown plants.

Results We find that rosette leaf gene expression in autumn has substantial predictive power for both autumnal leaf phenotypes and final yield in spring. Many of the top predictor genes are linked to developmental processes known to occur in autumn in winter-type B. napus accessions, such as the juvenile-to-adult and vegetative-to-reproductive phase transitions, indicating that the yield potential of winter-type B. napus is influenced by autumnal development.

Conclusions Our results show that profiling individual plants under uncontrolled field conditions is a valid strategy for identifying genes and processes influencing crop yield in the field.