A Method for Assessing Axial and Temporal Effects of the Leaf Sheath on the Flexural Stiffness of the Maize Stem

A Method for Assessing Axial and Temporal Effects of the Leaf Sheath on the Flexural Stiffness of the Maize Stem | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article A Method for Assessing Axial and Temporal Effects of the Leaf Sheath on the Flexural Stiffness of the Maize Stem Jared Hale, Spencer Webb, Nathan Hale, Christopher Stubbs, Douglas D Cook This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-321341/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: The leaf sheath of many plants has been observed to influence both stiffness of the stem and ultimate strength. The leaf sheath has been implicated in studies of maize “greensnap” (or “brittle-snap”) failure. However, but the influence of the sheath is still not well understood and few methods exist for studying the influence of the sheath. The goal of this study was to develop a method for assessing longitudinal and temporal patterns of sheath influence on flexural stiffness. This metric of flexural stiffness was chosen because it is non-destructive and has been shown to be highly predictive of bending strength. Results: A three-point bending test method was successfully developed for assessing the influence of the sheath on flexural stiffness. The method relies upon comparisons between pairs of tests at the same location (sheath present vs. absent). The influence of the sheath was statistically significant in all varieties tested. The test method provided insights into the longitudinal and spatial variation of sheath influence: sheath influence appears to be closely related to maturity since both spatial and temporal patterns of influence mirror the sigmoidal maturation patterns previously observed in maize stalks. Conclusions: The paired nature of this test method increases statistical significance while the non-destructive feature of this test allows for multiple tests along the length of the stalk. This method can be used to provide new insights regarding how the leaf sheath influences stalk flexibility (and therefore strength). Preliminary results indicate that the influence of the sheath changes over the life span of the plant in parallel with maturation patterns. However, further studies will be needed to confirm this hypothesis more broadly and to study additional issues such as heritability and the influce of genotype and environment on sheath influence. Plant Physiology and Morphology Plant Molecular Biology and Genetics maize greensnap brittle-snap flexural method leaf sheath Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Full-Text Due to technical limitations, full-text HTML conversion of this manuscript could not be completed. However, the manuscript can be downloaded and accessed as a PDF. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-321341","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":19736511,"identity":"3d0087f1-e6c2-4704-b364-727196f71961","order_by":0,"name":"Jared Hale","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Brigham Young University-Provo: Brigham Young University","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jared","middleName":"","lastName":"Hale","suffix":""},{"id":19736512,"identity":"ac8021bb-703b-4fea-8818-a4a0294ba91c","order_by":1,"name":"Spencer Webb","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Brigham Young University-Provo: Brigham Young University","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Spencer","middleName":"","lastName":"Webb","suffix":""},{"id":19736513,"identity":"64f57e35-3971-445d-9f79-ed149250365f","order_by":2,"name":"Nathan Hale","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Brigham Young University-Provo: Brigham Young University","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nathan","middleName":"","lastName":"Hale","suffix":""},{"id":19736514,"identity":"8a2f1cf7-64eb-4677-8c4a-261deeccfeee","order_by":3,"name":"Christopher Stubbs","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Idaho","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christopher","middleName":"","lastName":"Stubbs","suffix":""},{"id":19736515,"identity":"8448ccbd-0ec3-4428-87ad-496275a033bc","order_by":4,"name":"Douglas D Cook","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAsElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDCCAwmMj/8Y2CSAOTxEamE24ClII00LmwTPh8MkaOE7nvxMQsLgfJ7BjQTGB2/biNAieeaZsYWBwe1ioBZmw7nEaDG4kcN4I8HgduKGGwls0rxEamGQOGBwDqSF/TexWpgkGwwOgG1hJkoLyC/GDAbJxZJnHjZLzjlHhBZgiD18zPDHLg/IOPjhTRkRWuBA4QBjAynqgUCeVA2jYBSMglEwcgAALb09sGXwe6wAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1731-1978","institution":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84602","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Douglas","middleName":"D","lastName":"Cook","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2021-03-12 12:56:48","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-321341/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-321341/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":7670590,"identity":"36a55bf4-c666-4233-a729-ca69d4fa7ba1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-04-05 14:53:06","extension":"jpg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":28985,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"An illustration of the test arrangement used in this study. Supports are represented by\ngray circles while the red arrow represents the applied force. The gray horizontal arrows indicate the process of shifing the stalk to the left as the test process progresses.","description":"","filename":"1.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-321341/v1/f688913bbb71033fb3fe18db.jpg"},{"id":7670203,"identity":"7be31c96-0aa7-476c-99b1-98204291d913","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-04-05 14:50:06","extension":"jpg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":47399,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Three sigmoid curves with their associated coefficient values and the sigmoid curve\nequation.","description":"","filename":"2.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-321341/v1/67fd957def41efb810109f4e.jpg"},{"id":7670196,"identity":"8c5d21c9-a7c3-45bc-a63c-97555bad1725","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-04-05 14:50:04","extension":"jpg","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":53704,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Box plots depicting the influence of the leaf sheath on flexural stiffness for each\nvariety tested, and all varieties combined (last box). Notches indicate statistical significance.","description":"","filename":"3.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-321341/v1/714a68d86f3dccf3553bb209.jpg"},{"id":7670219,"identity":"f21957f7-4d98-4073-a763-7c3ecdaa2d6e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-04-05 14:50:09","extension":"jpg","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":45725,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Representative chart showing the sigmoid curve fitted to test results as a function of\naxial position (additional charts available in the supplementary data that accompanies this paper).","description":"","filename":"4.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-321341/v1/7893c0ac1b961a0d2c013f8e.jpg"},{"id":7670226,"identity":"28820394-362d-4843-8b07-b00a5d48dfa0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-04-05 14:50:11","extension":"jpg","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":60205,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Plots of coefficient values over time for each of the four varieties. Consistent patterns\nwere observed for coefficients a and d (shown in black). In contrast, inconsistent patterns were observed for coefficients b and c (shown in gray).","description":"","filename":"5.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-321341/v1/c5e22395a668850082b94394.jpg"},{"id":7670195,"identity":"e6deff73-a73e-41c1-8f70-021cfbf8fc14","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-04-05 14:50:02","extension":"jpg","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":53107,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Illustration of the typical progression of coefficients a and d, and the resulting\nprogression of sigmoid curves.","description":"","filename":"6.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-321341/v1/73bb9a029cd83e7a0fac3303.jpg"},{"id":13683903,"identity":"f9c7a936-8bb0-4f67-b1bd-b55e4ebaf740","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2021-09-17 12:05:07","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":357355,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-321341/v1/3d637eed-de82-4f5f-91be-ee0c7de64823.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eA Method for Assessing Axial and Temporal Effects of the Leaf Sheath on the Flexural Stiffness of the Maize Stem\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"Full-Text","content":"\u003cp\u003eDue to technical limitations, full-text HTML conversion of this manuscript could not be completed. However, the manuscript can be downloaded and accessed as a PDF.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"maize, greensnap, brittle-snap, flexural, method, leaf sheath","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-321341/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-321341/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eBackground: The leaf sheath of many plants has been observed to influence both stiffness of the stem and ultimate strength. The leaf sheath has been implicated in studies of maize “greensnap” (or “brittle-snap”) failure. However, but the influence of the sheath is still not well understood and few methods exist for studying the influence of the sheath. The goal of this study was to develop a method for assessing longitudinal and temporal patterns of sheath influence on flexural stiffness. This metric of flexural stiffness was chosen because it is non-destructive and has been shown to be highly predictive of bending strength. \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eResults: A three-point bending test method was successfully developed for assessing the influence of the sheath on flexural stiffness. The method relies upon comparisons between pairs of tests at the same location (sheath present vs. absent). The influence of the sheath was statistically significant in all varieties tested. The test method provided insights into the longitudinal and spatial variation of sheath influence: sheath influence appears to be closely related to maturity since both spatial and temporal patterns of influence mirror the sigmoidal maturation patterns previously observed in maize stalks. \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConclusions: The paired nature of this test method increases statistical significance while the non-destructive feature of this test allows for multiple tests along the length of the stalk. This method can be used to provide new insights\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eregarding how the leaf sheath influences stalk flexibility (and therefore strength). Preliminary results indicate that the influence of the sheath changes over the life span of the plant in parallel with maturation patterns. However, further studies will be needed to confirm this hypothesis more broadly and to study additional issues such as heritability and the influce of genotype and environment on sheath influence.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"A Method for Assessing Axial and Temporal Effects of the Leaf Sheath on the Flexural Stiffness of the Maize Stem","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2021-04-05 14:48:38","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-321341/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"cfb287bb-0c2e-406c-9e49-f82806ef0242","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 5th, 2021","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":3418746,"name":"Plant Physiology and Morphology"},{"id":3418747,"name":"Plant Molecular Biology and Genetics"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2021-06-13T16:31:38+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2021-04-05 14:48:38","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-321341","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-321341","identity":"rs-321341","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"cBFmMYwuxLRRLfASyISRj","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}