@article{reynolds_wilkins_martin_taggart_rivera_tunc-ozdemir_rufty_lobaton_bozkurt_daniele_2024, title={Evaluating Bacterial Nanocellulose Interfaces for Recording Surface Biopotentials from Plants}, volume={24}, ISSN={["1424-8220"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.3390/s24072335}, DOI={10.3390/s24072335}, abstractNote={The study of plant electrophysiology offers promising techniques to track plant health and stress in vivo for both agricultural and environmental monitoring applications. Use of superficial electrodes on the plant body to record surface potentials may provide new phenotyping insights. Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is a flexible, optically translucent, and water-vapor-permeable material with low manufacturing costs, making it an ideal substrate for non-invasive and non-destructive plant electrodes. This work presents BNC electrodes with screen-printed carbon (graphite) ink-based conductive traces and pads. It investigates the potential of these electrodes for plant surface electrophysiology measurements in comparison to commercially available standard wet gel and needle electrodes. The electrochemically active surface area and impedance of the BNC electrodes varied based on the annealing temperature and time over the ranges of 50 °C to 90 °C and 5 to 60 min, respectively. The water vapor transfer rate and optical transmittance of the BNC substrate were measured to estimate the level of occlusion caused by these surface electrodes on the plant tissue. The total reduction in chlorophyll content under the electrodes was measured after the electrodes were placed on maize leaves for up to 300 h, showing that the BNC caused only a 16% reduction. Maize leaf transpiration was reduced by only 20% under the BNC electrodes after 72 h compared to a 60% reduction under wet gel electrodes in 48 h. On three different model plants, BNC–carbon ink surface electrodes and standard invasive needle electrodes were shown to have a comparable signal quality, with a correlation coefficient of >0.9, when measuring surface biopotentials induced by acute environmental stressors. These are strong indications of the superior performance of the BNC substrate with screen-printed graphite ink as an electrode material for plant surface biopotential recordings.}, number={7}, journal={SENSORS}, author={Reynolds, James and Wilkins, Michael and Martin, Devon and Taggart, Matthew and Rivera, Kristina R. and Tunc-Ozdemir, Meral and Rufty, Thomas and Lobaton, Edgar and Bozkurt, Alper and Daniele, Michael A.}, year={2024}, month={Apr} }
 @article{banerjee_reynolds_taggart_daniele_bozkurt_lobaton_2024, title={Quantifying Visual Differences in Drought-Stressed Maize through Reflectance and Data-Driven Analysis}, volume={5}, ISSN={["2673-2688"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.3390/ai5020040}, DOI={10.3390/ai5020040}, abstractNote={Environmental factors, such as drought stress, significantly impact maize growth and productivity worldwide. To improve yield and quality, effective strategies for early detection and mitigation of drought stress in maize are essential. This paper presents a detailed analysis of three imaging trials conducted to detect drought stress in maize plants using an existing, custom-developed, low-cost, high-throughput phenotyping platform. A pipeline is proposed for early detection of water stress in maize plants using a Vision Transformer classifier and analysis of distributions of near-infrared (NIR) reflectance from the plants. A classification accuracy of 85% was achieved in one of our trials, using hold-out trials for testing. Suitable regions on the plant that are more sensitive to drought stress were explored, and it was shown that the region surrounding the youngest expanding leaf (YEL) and the stem can be used as a more consistent alternative to analysis involving just the YEL. Experiments in search of an ideal window size showed that small bounding boxes surrounding the YEL and the stem area of the plant perform better in separating drought-stressed and well-watered plants than larger window sizes enclosing most of the plant. The results presented in this work show good separation between well-watered and drought-stressed categories for two out of the three imaging trials, both in terms of classification accuracy from data-driven features as well as through analysis of histograms of NIR reflectance.}, number={2}, journal={AI}, author={Banerjee, Sanjana and Reynolds, James and Taggart, Matthew and Daniele, Michael and Bozkurt, Alper and Lobaton, Edgar}, year={2024}, month={Jun}, pages={790–802} }
 @article{haverroth_da-silva_taggart_oliveira_cardoso_2024, title={Shoot hydraulic impairments induced by root waterlogging: Parallels and contrasts with drought}, volume={6}, ISSN={["1532-2548"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiae336}, DOI={10.1093/plphys/kiae336}, abstractNote={Abstract Soil waterlogging and drought correspond to contrasting water extremes resulting in plant dehydration. Dehydration in response to waterlogging occurs due to impairments to root water transport, but no previous study has addressed whether limitations to water transport occur beyond this organ or whether dehydration alone can explain shoot impairments. Using common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) as a model species, we report that waterlogging also impairs water transport in leaves and stems. During the very first hours of waterlogging, leaves transiently dehydrated to water potentials close to the turgor loss point, possibly driving rapid stomatal closure and partially explaining the decline in leaf hydraulic conductance. The initial decline in leaf hydraulic conductance (occurring within 24 h), however, surpassed the levels predicted to occur based solely on dehydration. Constraints to leaf water transport resulted in a hydraulic disconnection between leaves and stems, furthering leaf dehydration during waterlogging and after soil drainage. As leaves dehydrated later during waterlogging, leaf embolism initiated and extensive embolism levels amplified leaf damage. The hydraulic disconnection between leaves and stems prevented stem water potentials from declining below the threshold for critical embolism levels in response to waterlogging. This allowed plants to survive waterlogging and soil drainage. In summary, leaf and stem dehydration are central in defining plant impairments in response to waterlogging, thus creating similarities between waterlogging and drought. Yet, our findings point to the existence of additional players (likely chemicals) partially controlling the early declines in leaf hydraulic conductance and contributing to leaf damage during waterlogging.}, journal={PLANT PHYSIOLOGY}, author={Haverroth, Eduardo J. and Da-Silva, Cristiane J. and Taggart, Matthew and Oliveira, Leonardo A. and Cardoso, Amanda A.}, year={2024}, month={Jun} }
 @article{haverroth_oliveira_andrade_taggart_mcadam_zsogon_thompson_martins_cardoso_2023, title={Abscisic acid acts essentially on stomata, not on the xylem, to improve drought resistance in tomato}, volume={8}, ISSN={["1365-3040"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pce.14676}, DOI={10.1111/pce.14676}, abstractNote={AbstractDrought resistance is essential for plant production under water‐limiting environments. Abscisic acid (ABA) plays a critical role in stomata but its impact on hydraulic function beyond the stomata is far less studied. We selected genotypes differing in their ability to accumulate ABA to investigate its role in drought‐induced dysfunction. All genotypes exhibited similar leaf and stem embolism resistance regardless of differences in ABA levels. Their leaf hydraulic resistance was also similar. Differences were only observed between the two extreme genotypes: sitiens (sit; a strong ABA‐deficient mutant) and sp12 (a transgenic line that constitutively overaccumulates ABA), where the water potential inducing 50% embolism was 0.25 MPa lower in sp12 than in sit. Maximum stomatal and minimum leaf conductances were considerably lower in plants with higher ABA (wild type [WT] and sp12) than in ABA‐deficient mutants. Variations in gas exchange across genotypes were associated with ABA levels and differences in stomatal density and size. The lower water loss in plants with higher ABA meant that lethal water potentials associated with embolism occurred later during drought in sp12 plants, followed by WT, and then by the ABA‐deficient mutants. Therefore, the primary pathway by which ABA enhances drought resistance is via declines in water loss, which delays dehydration and hydraulic dysfunction.}, journal={PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT}, publisher={Wiley}, author={Haverroth, Eduardo J. and Oliveira, Leonardo A. and Andrade, Moab T. and Taggart, Matthew and McAdam, Scott A. M. and Zsogon, Agustin and Thompson, Andrew J. and Martins, Samuel C. V. and Cardoso, Amanda A.}, year={2023}, month={Aug} }
 @article{twiddy_taggart_reynolds_sharkey_rufty_lobaton_bozkurt_daniele_2022, title={Real-Time Monitoring of Plant Stalk Growth Using a Flexible Printed Circuit Board Sensor}, ISSN={["1930-0395"]}, DOI={10.1109/SENSORS52175.2022.9967167}, abstractNote={Monitoring of plant growth within agriculture is essential for ensuring the survival of crops and optimization of resources in the face of environmental and industrial challenges. Herein, we describe a low-cost and easily deployable flexible circuit board sensor for measurement of plant stalk growth, providing for remote tracking of plant development on an industrial scale. Three circuit topologies and measurement strategies - “ladder-type,” “multiplex-type,” and “mixed-type” - are initially assessed off-plant in a simulated growth experiment. Further development of the “multiplex-type” sensor and on-plant validation demonstrates its ability to quantify stalk growth as a proxy for plant development.}, journal={2022 IEEE SENSORS}, author={Twiddy, Jack and Taggart, Matthew and Reynolds, James and Sharkey, Chris and Rufty, Thomas and Lobaton, Edgar and Bozkurt, Alper and Daniele, Michael}, year={2022} }
 @article{rosas-anderson_taggart_heitman_miller_sinclair_rufty_2018, title={Partitioning between evaporation and transpiration from Agrostis stolonifera L. during light and dark periods}, volume={260}, ISSN={["1873-2240"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.agrformet.2018.05.018}, abstractNote={Pressures on water availability for irrigation of turfgrasses continue in many parts of the United States as climate and weather patterns shift and populations increase. It is essential to understand underlying factors controlling water loss to more precisely predict irrigation requirements and develop new strategies for improving effective use of water. In this study, we investigate two key components of potential water loss from a bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) system that have not previously been examined in detail: 1) water loss in darkness, and 2) water loss through evaporation directly from the soil. The experiments were conducted in controlled environment chambers with intact cores from the field. An automated gravimetric system and soil moisture probes allowed precise measurements of water loss over ranges of vapor pressure deficits (VPD). The gravimetric and soil probe results indicated that substantial evapotranspiration occurred in darkness, at rates 40 to 60% of that in the light across VPDs. Simulations using field weather data from dry and humid environments indicated nighttime water loss rates would be expected to be 30 to 40% of that in the light. Using cores treated with a fast-acting, desiccating herbicide that eliminated transpiration but kept core resistances intact, evaporation directly from the soil surface was estimated to account for 40% of total water loss in the light and 60 to 70% in the dark. The results, collectively, indicated that water loss in darkness must be separately accounted for to accurately estimate daily evapotranspiration totals and irrigation requirements. Furthermore, because of the very high potential for evaporative water loss in the light and dark, efforts to improve water use efficiencies in the turfgrass system should include strategies that regulate both transpiration by the plant and evaporation from the soil surface.}, journal={AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY}, author={Rosas-Anderson, Pablo and Taggart, Matthew J. and Heitman, Joshua L. and Miller, Grady L. and Sinclair, Thomas R. and Rufty, Thomas W.}, year={2018}, month={Oct}, pages={73–79} }
 @article{taggart_heitman_vepraskas_burchell_2011, title={Surface shading effects on soil C loss in a temperate muck soil}, volume={163}, ISSN={0016-7061}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2011.04.020}, DOI={10.1016/j.geoderma.2011.04.020}, abstractNote={Histosols are a huge reservoir for C, covering < 1% of the world's land surface but storing up to 12% of total soil C. Thorough comprehension of factors controlling the rate of soil C loss from Histosols is critical for proper management of these C sinks. Two experiments evaluated how formerly cultivated, warm-climate Histosols undergoing wetland restoration respond to decreases in soil temperatures via vegetative shading, under different water table conditions. We compared temperature and soil CO2 efflux differences from intact soil cores under three levels of light reduction in a greenhouse: 0%, 70%, and 90%. Soil in full sun was consistently warmer and showed higher efflux rates than 70% and 90% shade treatments: 4.132, 3.438, and 2.054 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1, respectively. Shade treatments reached peak efflux rates at similar water potential, −2 to − 4 kPa. A field experiment subjected in-situ soil to full sun, 70% light reduction, and light reduction from naturally occurring herbaceous vegetation. Shade treatment effects on soil temperature and C mineralization were evident throughout the growing season. Vegetative shade effects on soil temperature were greatest in August and September when soil under vegetation was 5–11 °C cooler than unshaded soil. Soil CO2 efflux was correlated strongly with soil temperature; daily efflux rates were consistently highest from unshaded soil. Efflux across treatments showed a strong seasonal correlation to soil moisture, increasing as soil dried in response to water table decline. Soil water potential was unaffected by shade treatment, suggesting temperature effects were solely responsible for efflux differences between treatments. All results confirm that surface shading has a strong influence on soil temperatures and C mineralization rates. Management to enhance vegetative shading in wetland restoration projects may be an effective strategy for slowing soil C losses and promoting soil C sequestration when O2 is not limiting.}, number={3-4}, journal={Geoderma}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Taggart, Matthew J. and Heitman, Joshua L. and Vepraskas, Michael J. and Burchell, Michael R.}, year={2011}, month={Jul}, pages={238–246} }