The early dodder gets the host

.title[
# The early dodder gets the host
]
.subtitle[
## Decoding the Circumnutation Patterns of <em>Cuscuta campestris</em> with image processing
]
.author[
### Max Bentelspacher, <strong>Erik Amézquita</strong>,<br>Supral Adhikari, Jaime Barros, So-Yon Park<br>—<br>Division of Plant Sciences & Technology<br>Department of Mathematics<br>University of Missouri<br>—
]
.date[
### 2024-03-17
]

---

# _Cuscuta_ : The plant vampire diaries

<img src="https://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41467-018-04344-z/MediaObjects/41467_2018_4344_Fig1_HTML.jpg?as=webp" width="700px" style="display: block; margin: auto;" />
<p style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; color: Grey;">Credits: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04344-z">Vogel <em>et al.<em> (2018)</a></p>

---

# Haustoria: more intimate than Twilight

![](../figs/haustoria_photo_diagram.jpg)
<p style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; color: Grey;">Credits: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erv482">Olsen <em>et al.<em> (2015)</a></p>

---

# Haustoria: more intimate than Twilight

<p style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; color: Grey;">Credits: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2015.05.012">Kim and Westwood (2015)</a></p>

---

# Studying how a vampire plant wiggles

- Study how _Cuscuta_ moves to ultimately stop it from attaching to crops in the first place.

---

# Methods

## Image processing to automate video observation

---

# Image processing

![](../figs/4pm_rep7_0330_raw.jpg)

- Mature _Cuscuta_ stem segments grown in greenhouse.
- Inoculated on skewers at 9AM, 12PM, and 4PM.
- 900 camera snapshots &times; 96 seconds = 24 hours.
- 5 skewers &times; 7 repetitions = 35 samples per time.

---

# Image processing

![](../figs/4pm_rep7_0330_proc1.jpg)

- Identify tapes (inoculation points)
- Identify skewers
- Linear approximation for the center of the skewers'

---

# Image processing

![](../figs/4pm_rep7_0330_proc2.jpg)

- Consider 5 subimages, one per skewer, from hereafter
- Discard the rest of the image

---

# Image processing

![](../figs/4pm_rep7_0330_full_h.jpg)

![](../figs/4pm_rep7_plant0_v02_0330_h.jpg)

---

# Analyzing sub-images

<div class="row">
<div class="column" style="max-width:40%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant0_v03_0330_v.jpg"></img>
</div>
<div class="column" style="max-width:30%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant0_v06_0330.jpg"></img>
</div>
<div class="column" style="max-width:30%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant0_v08_0330.jpg"></img>
</div>
</div>
---
# Analyzing sub-images

<div class="row">
<div class="column" style="max-width:40%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant1_v03_0330_v.jpg"></img>
</div>
<div class="column" style="max-width:30%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant1_v06_0330.jpg"></img>
</div>
<div class="column" style="max-width:30%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant1_v08_0330.jpg"></img>
</div>
</div>
---
# Analyzing sub-images

<div class="row">
<div class="column" style="max-width:40%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant2_v03_0330_v.jpg"></img>
</div>
<div class="column" style="max-width:30%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant2_v06_0330.jpg"></img>
</div>
<div class="column" style="max-width:30%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant2_v08_0330.jpg"></img>
</div>
</div>
---
# Analyzing sub-images

<div class="row">
<div class="column" style="max-width:40%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant3_v03_0330_v.jpg"></img>
</div>
<div class="column" style="max-width:30%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant3_v06_0330.jpg"></img>
</div>
<div class="column" style="max-width:30%">
  <img src="../figs/4pm_rep7_plant3_v08_0330.jpg"></img>
</div>
</div>
---
# Analyzing sub-images

---

# Putting it all together

<video width="900" controls>
<source src="../video/4pm_rep7_plant_00.mp4" type="video/mp4">
</video>
---
# Putting it all together

<video width="900" controls>
<source src="../video/4pm_rep7_plant_01.mp4" type="video/mp4">
</video>
---
# Putting it all together

<video width="900" controls>
<source src="../video/4pm_rep7_plant_02.mp4" type="video/mp4">
</video>
---
# Putting it all together

<video width="900" controls>
<source src="../video/4pm_rep7_plant_03.mp4" type="video/mp4">
</video>
---
# Putting it all together

---

# Automated phenotyping

---

# Results: The early dodder gets the host

![](../figs/cuscuta_standstill_3x3.jpg)

---

# Differences: Coiling rate

- The early dodder gets to coil

---

# Differences: Intiation and completion

- Cuscuta at 4pm takes longer to get going and then to reach a stable position

---

background-image: url("../figs/time_btwn_initiation_and_completion.svg")
background-size: 350px
background-position: 50% 99%

# Some differences: angle and stabilization

---

# No differences: process and position

---

# No correlation beetween twisting and stabilization times

![](../figs/stabilization_vs_twisting.svg)

---

# Conclusions and future questions

![](../figs/cuscuta_circadian_model.png)

- Cuscuta can tell time despite lacking photoreceptors.

- It prefers to act in the morning/early afternoon.

- Can we tease out more information out of the coiling angle?

- Overall, the automated image analysis criteria agreed with the main conclusions drawn from the manual observation criteria.

- Our pipeline is ready to collect more data:

- Phenotype the wiggle itself under various environmental conditions?

---

background-image: url("../figs/acknowledgements.png")
background-size: 910px
background-position: 50% 50%

---

background-image: url("../../msucourses/figs/ipg_2024-3.jpg")
background-size: 910px
background-position: 50% 50%