Fig. 1

Formation of a virtual cut reflecting the cellular structure of the epidermal layer by LSM-W² plugin. a-e Construction of the leaf surface and 2D virtual cut. a Fragment of 3D reconstruction of the wheat leaf epidermis in the growth zone. Points 1, 2, 3 denote virtual punctures; red dots indicate the leaf surface. b Plots of intensity vs. slice number corresponding to three virtual punctures from A. Red dots indicate the maximum intensity points; the red dotted line shows the leaf surface approximation that is the “leaf surface mask.” c The 3D surface plot of the “leaf surface mask.” d The virtual cut reflecting the cellular structure of the epidermal layer. e The segmented image on which a unique index marks each epidermal cell. Different colors correspond to different indices. f-i Correction of the “leaf surface mask” image for the pubescent leaf of wheat cv. Saratovskaya 29 for trichomes removing. f Initial 2D image with virtual cut carries trichomes complicating segmentation. g The “leaf surface mask” image taking into account the trichomes. h The “leaf surface mask” image with trichomes removed by mathematical morphology operations. i Resulting 2D image with virtual cut free of trichomes