Development of an Integrated Image Analyzer and Bioreactor for Plant Propagation

摘要

The overall objective of the research is to develop a bioreactor system for the scale-up of carrot somatic embryogenesis culture; in Phase 1, to develop a plant embryo image analysis system that can automatically classify the developmental stages of somatic embryos, and objectively quantify the characteristics of the overall culture in a rapid manner. The use of a two-stage decision tree was found to provide the best method for selecting and classifying embryos. Stage one takes observations made by the image analyzer and distinguishes embryos from nonembryos. Stage two uses those observations classified as embryos, and determines the developmental stage either as globular, heart, or torpedo. Decisions created on the first level are based on three discrete size classes, and on whether an observation falls within two standard deviations of two of the invariant parameters. Decisions created on the second level are based on discriminant analysis software using all three invariant parameters plus the area.