M2 plant phenotyping
At different plant development stages (from germination to fruit ripening), the Red Setter M2 mutant population was visually phenotyped. The recorded data were organized in 17 Classes and 52 Subclasses that describe the plant's phenotype in more specific detail. The selection of classes and subclasses was mostly done on the basis of the phenotypic catalog reported by D. Zamir and coworkers.
In addition to the previously described categories, that we named classes, three new classes were introduced. These new classes were as follows:
- Cotyledons: that includes mutants showing alterations in the colour, number, morphology or dimensions of cotyledons;
- Fruits number: including mutants affected in the fruit production (absent, few or many fruits)
- Seed germination into fruit: mutants having pre-germinated seeds into fruit.
The seed pre-germination is often associated with a delay in fruit harvesting (the fruit is too ripe) but it could also be caused by an altered fruit flesh pH or by a hormonal imbalance. Since mutant genotypes were handled, we decided to include this quality trait in our phenotypic catalog.
