Spatio-temporal analysis of strawberry architecture: insights into the control of branching and inflorescence complexity

International audiencePlant architecture plays a major role in flowering and therefore in crop yield. Attempts to visualize and analyze strawberry plant architecture have been scarce to date. Here, we propose an open-source software combining 2D and 3D representation of plant development over time and statistical methods to explore the variability in spatio-temporal development of plant architecture in cultivated strawberry. We applied this software to six seasonal strawberry varieties whose plants were exhaustively described monthly at the node scale. Results showed that the architectural pattern of the strawberry plant is characterized by a decrease of the module complexity between the zeroth-order module (primary crown) and higher-order modules (lateral branch crowns (BC) and extension crowns). Furthermore, for each variety, we could identify traits with a central role in determining yield such as date of appearance and number of branches. By modeling the spatial organization of axillary meristem fate on the zeroth-order module using a hidden hybrid Markov/semi-Markov mathematical model, we further identified three zones with different probabilities of production of BC, dormant buds or stolons. This open-source software will be precious for the scientific community and breeders to study the influence of environmental and genetic cues on strawberry architecture and yield