Lifecycle phenotyping of plant development

Technology-based phenotyping frequently is limited by sensing capabilities of the cameras, scanners, or other sensors used to obtain information on the samples. For instance, image recording and image processing of growing plants frequently works well for leaves and shoots of young seedlings, but becomes more challenging for adult and mature plants, and particularly for roots.

With LemnaTec PhenoAIxpert Pro technology, we can phenotype the whole lifecycle of crops, from cotyledons to mature grain. The example shows wheat growing in mini-plot boxes at ripening stage. The boxes can be moved through imaging cabinets for phenotype measurements. In addition, technologies are available for root monitoring, too, for instance transparent plates in the boxes that open views to the plants’ roots. From a breeder’s perspective, yield-related data are the most important phenotypes. Thus, the capability to phenotype plants at mature stage is highly valuable in breeding-related research. Moreover, rooting data increasingly become important to develop plant varieties that withstand water shortages in dry climates. Essentially, combining root and shoot data form the same plant individuals recorded simultaneously and monitored over time provides surpassingly innovative data on plant development and resulting performance.

The LemnaTec PhenoAIxpert HT is a versatile and flexible automated phenotyping system, that can be customized for many sample types. The capability to phenotype mature crops makes it a highly valuable tool in breeding research. Beyond such automated plant-to-sensor systems, the LemnaTec PhenoAIxpert product family provides a range of phenotyping systems dedicated to various applications.