1Department of Agronomy, Purdue
University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
ORCiD: 0000-0003-1472-0028
Keywords: Senescence, Hyperspectral, Maize, Commercial
Germplasm
Alteration of senescence patterns in maize has led to significant yield
increases of commercial hybrids in recent decades through “staygreen”
and other traits. Senescence is regulated by several biological
processes including photoperiod response and sugar signaling. B73, a
parent for many commercial varieties, manifests a Source-Sink Regulated
Senescence (SSRS) and enters a rapid and premature senescence pattern
when the sink tissue is disrupted. In this study, we explored the
expression of SSRS in maize commercial germplasm and assessed the
commercial relevance of the trait per se and in testcrosses
through remote sensing under field conditions. We also utilized a
hyperspectral leaf scanner to more thoroughly characterize the phenotype
and provide early detection in a subset of genotypes.