Quantification of seed–soil contact of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) using X-ray Computed Tomography
Abstract Background: Seed–soil contact is important to ensure successful germination, however, there is a paucity of reported studies that have quantified the microstructure at and around this critical interface, mainly due to the opacity of soil. Results: Here we describe a novel methodology to n...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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BioMed Central
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47826/ |
| _version_ | 1848797639376633856 |
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| author | Blunk, Sebastian Malik, Ali Hafeez de Heer, Martine I. Ekblad, Tobias Bussell, Jennifer S. Sparkes, Debbie L. Fredlund, Kenneth Sturrock, Craig J. Mooney, Sacha J. |
| author_facet | Blunk, Sebastian Malik, Ali Hafeez de Heer, Martine I. Ekblad, Tobias Bussell, Jennifer S. Sparkes, Debbie L. Fredlund, Kenneth Sturrock, Craig J. Mooney, Sacha J. |
| author_sort | Blunk, Sebastian |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Abstract
Background: Seed–soil contact is important to ensure successful germination, however, there is a paucity of reported studies that have quantified the microstructure at and around this critical interface, mainly due to the opacity of soil.
Results: Here we describe a novel methodology to non-destructively calculate the seed–soil contact area using X-ray Computed Tomography. Under controlled conditions, we observed that seed–soil contact was strongly influenced by the size and type of seed, with a seed–soil contact of ca. 15% for naked sugar beet seeds compared to ca. 32% for pelleted and coated seeds. Similar results were obtained for seeds sampled from the field albeit with a higher spatial variability.
Conclusions: By application of this new quantification method it is hoped seed enhancement technologies can be optimised and ultimately seedbed preparation improved to ensure better germination. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:07:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-47826 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:07:04Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | BioMed Central |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-478262020-05-04T19:02:43Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47826/ Quantification of seed–soil contact of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) using X-ray Computed Tomography Blunk, Sebastian Malik, Ali Hafeez de Heer, Martine I. Ekblad, Tobias Bussell, Jennifer S. Sparkes, Debbie L. Fredlund, Kenneth Sturrock, Craig J. Mooney, Sacha J. Abstract Background: Seed–soil contact is important to ensure successful germination, however, there is a paucity of reported studies that have quantified the microstructure at and around this critical interface, mainly due to the opacity of soil. Results: Here we describe a novel methodology to non-destructively calculate the seed–soil contact area using X-ray Computed Tomography. Under controlled conditions, we observed that seed–soil contact was strongly influenced by the size and type of seed, with a seed–soil contact of ca. 15% for naked sugar beet seeds compared to ca. 32% for pelleted and coated seeds. Similar results were obtained for seeds sampled from the field albeit with a higher spatial variability. Conclusions: By application of this new quantification method it is hoped seed enhancement technologies can be optimised and ultimately seedbed preparation improved to ensure better germination. BioMed Central 2017-08-30 Article PeerReviewed Blunk, Sebastian, Malik, Ali Hafeez, de Heer, Martine I., Ekblad, Tobias, Bussell, Jennifer S., Sparkes, Debbie L., Fredlund, Kenneth, Sturrock, Craig J. and Mooney, Sacha J. (2017) Quantification of seed–soil contact of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) using X-ray Computed Tomography. Plant Methods, 13 (71). ISSN 1746-4811 Sugar beet Germination Seeds Seed–soil contact X-ray Computed Tomography https://plantmethods.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13007-017-0220-4 doi:10.1186/s13007-017-0220-4 doi:10.1186/s13007-017-0220-4 |
| spellingShingle | Sugar beet Germination Seeds Seed–soil contact X-ray Computed Tomography Blunk, Sebastian Malik, Ali Hafeez de Heer, Martine I. Ekblad, Tobias Bussell, Jennifer S. Sparkes, Debbie L. Fredlund, Kenneth Sturrock, Craig J. Mooney, Sacha J. Quantification of seed–soil contact of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) using X-ray Computed Tomography |
| title | Quantification of seed–soil contact of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) using X-ray Computed Tomography |
| title_full | Quantification of seed–soil contact of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) using X-ray Computed Tomography |
| title_fullStr | Quantification of seed–soil contact of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) using X-ray Computed Tomography |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantification of seed–soil contact of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) using X-ray Computed Tomography |
| title_short | Quantification of seed–soil contact of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) using X-ray Computed Tomography |
| title_sort | quantification of seed–soil contact of sugar beet (beta vulgaris) using x-ray computed tomography |
| topic | Sugar beet Germination Seeds Seed–soil contact X-ray Computed Tomography |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47826/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47826/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47826/ |