Descriptions of common phenotypes

We take a bunch of phenotypes on plants. Every experiment should have its own SOPs (standard operating procedures) explaining exactly how to measure its target phenotypes. This page just gives a general overview to get familiar with what we tend to look at.

General phenotypes

• Stand Count is just a count of the plants in a plot. Can be done early to check germination efficiency ("germination count"), or late ("stand count") as a covariate for harvest.

Reproductive phenotypes

• Flowering time is when the plant flowers. For a plot with multiple plants, we usually measure when half the plants have flowered.
  • Anthesis is male flowering for maize. A plant has anthesed when at least half the anthers on the main spike have opened up.
  • Silking is female flowering for maize. A plant has silked when you can see any silks at all poking out of the ear (but make sure they're not bits of leaf).

Harvest phenotypes

• Yield means how much we got out at the end of the season (usually of grain, but could be biomass, etc.)
  • Machine-harvested maize plots (e.g., Genomes to Fields) are contracted out to Statewide Variety Testing, and their combine automatically counts total weight, test weight (=weight per standard volume), and % moisture.
  • Hand-harvested plots are usually part of the nursery and are handled as under Seed registration - FIXME: Update link