Virtual sorghum: visualisation of partitioning and morphogenesis

This paper presents a spatial simulation model of above-ground morphogenesis in a gramineous crop, grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench). Functions and parameters describing structural development were obtained from three-dimensional (3D) measurements of plants made at intervals during their development. The functions were expressed as specifications of morphogenesis in the L-system formalism and the specifications were interpreted by specialised software to create 3D virtual sorghum plants. Using the length and height of the collar of an early leaf as initial states, realistic images were generated of the lengths and shapes of subsequent leaves. The approach captures the dynamic interaction between partitioning and morphogenesis and presents the complex results as images that aid rapid interpretation.