Nagel Kerstin A, Lenz Henning, Kastenholz Bernd, Gilmer Frank, Averesch Andreas, Putz Alexander, Heinz Kathrin, Fischbach Andreas, Scharr Hanno, Fiorani Fabio, Walter Achim, Schurr Ulrich
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-2: Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
Present Address: BASF SE, 67117 Limburgerhof, Germany.
Plant Methods. 2020 Jun 23;16:89. doi: 10.1186/s13007-020-00631-3. eCollection 2020.
Root system architecture and especially its plasticity in acclimation to variable environments play a crucial role in the ability of plants to explore and acquire efficiently soil resources and ensure plant productivity. Non-destructive measurement methods are indispensable to quantify dynamic growth traits. For closing the phenotyping gap, we have developed an automated phenotyping platform, -, for non-destructive characterization of root and shoot traits of plants grown in transparent agar medium.
The phenotyping system is capable to phenotype root systems and correlate them to whole plant development of up to 280 plants within 15 min. The potential of the platform has been demonstrated by quantifying phenotypic differences within 78 accessions from the 1001 genomes project. The chosen concept 'plant-to-sensor' is based on transporting plants to the imaging position, which allows for flexible experimental size and design. As transporting causes mechanical vibrations of plants, we have validated that daily imaging, and consequently, moving plants has negligible influence on plant development. Plants are cultivated in square Petri dishes modified to allow the shoot to grow in the ambient air while the roots grow inside the Petri dish filled with agar. Because it is common practice in the scientific community to grow plants completely enclosed in Petri dishes, we compared development of plants that had the shoot inside with that of plants that had the shoot outside the plate. Roots of plants grown completely inside the Petri dish grew 58% slower, produced a 1.8 times higher lateral root density and showed an etiolated shoot whereas plants whose shoot grew outside the plate formed a rosette. In addition, the setup with the shoot growing outside the plate offers the unique option to accurately measure both, leaf and root traits, non-destructively, and treat roots and shoots separately.
Because the - system can be moved from one growth chamber to another, plants can be phenotyped under a wide range of environmental conditions including future climate scenarios. In combination with a measurement throughput enabling phenotyping a large set of mutants or accessions, the platform will contribute to the identification of key genes.
根系结构，尤其是其在适应多变环境中的可塑性，对于植物有效探索和获取土壤资源以及确保植物生产力的能力起着至关重要的作用。无损测量方法对于量化动态生长性状不可或缺。为了弥合表型差距，我们开发了一个自动化表型分析平台——，用于对生长在透明琼脂培养基中的植物的根和地上部性状进行无损表征。
该表型分析系统能够对根系进行表型分析，并在15分钟内将其与多达280株植物的整体发育情况相关联。通过量化1001基因组计划中78个种质的表型差异，证明了该平台的潜力。所选择的“植物到传感器”概念基于将植物运送到成像位置，这使得实验规模和设计具有灵活性。由于运输会引起植物的机械振动，我们已经验证，每日成像以及因此移动植物对植物发育的影响可以忽略不计。植物种植在经过改良的方形培养皿中，使地上部在环境空气中生长，而根系在装有琼脂的培养皿内生长。因为在科学界，将植物完全封闭在培养皿中生长是常见做法，所以我们比较了地上部在培养皿内的植物和地上部在培养皿外的植物的发育情况。完全在培养皿内生长的植物的根系生长速度慢58%，侧根密度高1.8倍，地上部呈现黄化现象，而地上部在培养皿外生长的植物形成莲座状。此外，地上部在培养皿外生长的设置提供了独特的选择，可以无损地准确测量叶片和根系性状，并分别处理根系和地上部。
由于该系统可以从一个生长室移动到另一个生长室，植物可以在包括未来气候情景在内的广泛环境条件下表型分析。结合能够对大量突变体或种质进行表型分析的测量通量，该平台将有助于关键基因的鉴定。
