Non-invasive phenotyping methodologies enable the accurate characterization of growth and performance of shoots and roots

Abstract

Significant improvements of the resource-use efficiency of major crops are required to meet the growing demand of food and feed in the next decades in a sustainable way. Breeding for new varieties and modern crop management aims at obtaining higher and more stable yields by optimizing plant structure and function under different environmental conditions. The development and application of non-invasive methods to estimate plant parameters underlying heritable traits are key enabling components. To address this demand, recently an increasing number of imaging technologies have started to be applied in plant research to analyze various types of genotype collections. Some of these applications are mature and suitable to be scaled-up to higher throughput; others require validation beyond proof-of-concept. In this chapter firstly we present an overview of available methods while stressing the current limitations to be taken into account for correct interpretation of the results. Secondly, we focus on three different case studies by our lab demonstrating the applicability of multispectral, fluorescence, and magnetic resonance imaging for various research questions applicable to controlled environments and to the field. Taken together, these case studies highlight that a variety of non-invasive plant phenotyping methods are essential tools not only for functional genomics, but also for plant selection and breeding. In addition, these experiments underline the need of developing methods tailored to different plant species and at various cultivation systems and scales.