Abstract Weevils (Sitophilus zeamais) are the most harmful stored-grain pest, and they appear as damage inside wheat kernels. The morphological changes to the inner kernel structure that occur after weevil infestation have not been thoroughly studied. Rapid and non-destructive methods for studying weevil damage would be readily accepted by the grain storage and quality control industry. Traditional research methods for investigating the morphological structures of kernels are mostly destructive and two-dimensional (2D) and cannot provide information on the three-dimensional (3D) spatial structure inside a kernel in a non-destructive and complete manner. X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography (X-ray μCT), a non-destructive 3D imaging and analysis technique used for studying the internal structure of a variety of materials, has great potential for application in the field of cereal science. To this end, this study involved a non-destructive imaging method based on X-ray μCT for measuring and characterizing the morphological structure of wheat kernels infested with S. zeamais. Through this method, X-ray μCT was used to acquire high-resolution 2D tomographic images (referred to here as 2D slices), which were subjected to noise reduction, filtering, segmentation, and reconstruction for the 3D visualization of the morphological structure inside S. zeamais-infested wheat kernels. A quantitative analysis of key parameters reflecting the changes in the morphological structure was also performed. The following results were obtained: (1) Based on differences in grayscale values in the 2D slices, the complex anatomical features inside the kernels were distinguished, and patterns of change in the components inside the kernels were determined successfully. (2) Using a 3D visualized characterization of the morphological structure, detailed spatial descriptions of the structural damage inside S. zeamais-infested kernels were achieved when S. zeamais was at different life stages. (3) A quantitative analysis was performed on the changes in key parameters in specific tissues inside S. zeamais-infested wheat kernels at different stages. As S. zeamais development progressed, certain insect parameters and the holes in the kernels caused by the S. zeamais feeding processes inside the kernel increased. The changes were particularly notable at 22 d of S. zeamais development, when the hole accounted for approximately 21% of the entire wheat kernel.

中文翻译：

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一种重建小麦籽粒内部形态结构的方法在 Sitophilus zeamais 侵染中

摘要 象鼻虫（Sitophilus zeamais）是危害最大的储粮害虫，表现为对小麦籽粒的危害。象鼻虫侵染后发生的内核结构的形态变化尚未得到彻底研究。用于研究象鼻虫损害的快速和非破坏性方法很容易被粮食储存和质量控制行业接受。传统的研究内核形态结构的研究方法大多是破坏性的二维（2D）研究方法，无法以非破坏性和完整的方式提供内核内部三维（3D）空间结构的信息。X 射线显微计算机断层扫描 (X-ray μCT)，一种用于研究各种材料内部结构的非破坏性 3D 成像和分析技术，在谷物科学领域具有巨大的应用潜力。为此，本研究涉及一种基于 X 射线 μCT 的无损成像方法，用于测量和表征感染玉米麦病的小麦籽粒的形态结构。通过这种方法，利用 X 射线 μCT 获取高分辨率的 2D 断层图像（这里称为 2D 切片），对其进行降噪、滤波、分割和重建，用于 S 内部形态结构的 3D 可视化。 . zeamais 感染的小麦籽粒。还对反映形态结构变化的关键参数进行了定量分析。得到以下结果：（1）基于二维切片灰度值的差异，区分内核内部复杂的解剖特征，并成功确定了内核内部组件的变化模式。(2) 使用形态结构的 3D 可视化表征，当 S. zeamais 处于不同生命阶段时，对受 S. zeamais 侵染的籽粒内部结构损伤进行了详细的空间描述。(3) 定量分析了不同时期受玉米白粉病侵染的小麦籽粒内特定组织关键参数的变化。随着 S. zeamais 发育的进行，某些昆虫参数和由 S. zeamais 摄食过程在籽粒内造成的籽粒中的孔增加。这种变化在玉米粒发育 22 d 时尤为显着，此时孔洞约占整个小麦籽粒的 21%。