Analyzing domatia distribution across Vitis species

Voiceover

Presenter(s)(s)

Cassandra Hernandez

Abstract or Description

Grapevines (Vitis) have been shown to harbor mites in small structures located in the axil of leaf veins called domatia. A way to recognize domatia is by looking at white hair filaments they contain where mites shelter and lay eggs. The domatia benefit mites by providing shelter, and in return, the mites protect grapevines against pests. Specific traits of grapevines leaves might determine whether there are domatia distributed throughout a leaf or not as well as during the development of a leaf and knowing when and where domatia develop and in which species may allow domatia to be bred to protect grapes from pests by recruiting mites. These details will be analyzed by the use of conformal mapping with the help of image processing in ImageJ. The ImageJ tool will be used to mark and specify distinctive shapes of domatia on images of grapevine leaves from different species and stages of development. Conformal mapping will be used to gather and warp leaves into an average leaf. Onto this average leaf, the locations of domatia across different leaves will be projected, allowing a relative comparison of domatia distribution across species and development. The purpose of this project is to analyze and compare the distribution of domatia across grapevine species and leaf development to understand how domatia can be potentially bred into grapevine varieties to protect crops from pests by recruiting mites. 

Mentor

Daniel Chitwood, Margaret Fleming, Sourabh Palande, Marjorie Weber