Spectroradiometer "ray gun" allows scientists to use light instead of DNA to distinguish plants

"Ray gun" instrument, spectroradiometer

In "Star Trek", characters carry a handheld device called tricorder, and they can point to objects to analyze and identify them

"Although well-trained biologists can usually go into the wild and use their eyes to identify species, revealing populations-individual groups of the same species in the gene bank-requires expensive genetic analysis, which is important for conservation and evolutionary research.

Dryas plants grow on the tops of mountains in Alaska

"DNA is like a manual on how to build an organism.

All living things contain DNA, and the more similar the DNA of two living things, the closer the relationship between them

Genetic studies have shown that sometimes these variations occur on a very subtle scale—for example, a plant from a species on a mountain top can form a slightly different population from the DNA of a plant on a mountain top a few miles away

Researcher Dawson White analyzed the fairy tree plant in Alaska

Scientists study these differences to distinguish the DNA of plant populations, but this is a difficult task-they must collect plant specimens, store them, allow them to be moved to the laboratory, and then go through many steps to sequence the genetic codes of plants and compare them

Spectroradiometer is an instrument used to measure how much light is reflected on a surface and the wavelength of light contained

White explained: "Leaves have evolved to interact with light.

Researcher Catherine Chen analyzed the fairy tree plant in Alaska

White and his colleagues from the Scudijk Institute and the University of Maine took the spectrometer to the alpine habitat of Alaska to study a small evergreen shrub called Dryas

"The purpose of our field work is to collect reflectance data of plant communities at different scales.

Scientists have discovered that from one mountain top to another, leaves reflect different amounts of light at different wavelengths

White said: "We were very surprised to find that different mountain tops are genetically separated, so they do not share pollen or seeds, and we can use genetics or this new spectral method to detect these different mountain tops

"Even in the case of biological complexity, the leaf spectrum can capture genetic variation very well, this fact is incredibly promising
.
With the improvement of technology and models, we hope to be able to use the spectrum measured by drones to detect The diversity and accuracy are the same as we use a backpack spectrometer,
said Dudu Meireles, a professor at the University of Maine
.

For scientists working to protect endangered species, being able to distinguish between different plant gene groups is crucial
.

"Now that we understand that each of these mountaintops is genetically unique, it means that it makes sense for conservation," said Rick Ree, curator of the Field Museum and one of the authors of the study
.
"If we want to work hard to maintain genetic diversity, especially considering that the habitat of alpine ecosystems is shrinking due to climate change, then this means that we should sample from every mountain top
.
"

Reference: "Reading Light: Leaf Spectrum Captures Fine-Scale Diversity of Close Hybrid Arctic Shrubs", by Lance Stasinski, Dawson M.
White, Peter R.
Nelson, Richard H.
Ree and José Eduardo Meireles, September 12, 2021 Day, the new botanist
.
DOI: 10.
1111 / nph.
17731