DPPN-Root and DPPN-shoot: Plant phenotyping infrastructure as an instrumental tool in the assessment of plant performance in the frame of crop breeding for resource use efficiency

Abstract

The controlled conditions phenotyping infrastructure of the DPPN-Jülich node provides established facilities for experimental research, while being under continuous development and expansion. Besides excellent phenotyping platform hardware and software, and in-house developed data analysis pipelines, experience in good phenotyping practices, including the collection and management of metadata on plants and their environment, and making the best use of platforms in regard to the biological question being addressed, is a major driver for both public and private sector research to access the phenotyping infrastructure also in the form of bilateral cooperative projects. The plant species grown in the platforms include a wide range of model and crop species, for which phenotypic traits on growth, development and physiological behaviour are quantitatively measured. Automated and high-throughput trait assessment at both the shoot and root system, and the organ level is complemented with the measurement of shoot and root biomass, transpiration and photosynthesis, and individual organ growth and morphology, to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the plant phenotype with respect to the imposed environmental conditions.The DPPN-Jülich node has put its infrastructure into practice by providing much-needed capacity for solving pertinent research questions related to plant performance in breeding strategies for resource-limited environments. In the case of wheat, the effect of domestication on the phenotypic diversity of the germplasm was investigated under contrasting nitrogen conditions (Gioia et al. 2015), whereas its water use strategies under control and drought conditions were determined and compared between landraces and modern cultivars (Nakhforoosh et al. 2016). Shoot and root system responses to drought were characterized at the seedling stage of development in maize hybrids with known drought tolerance states under field conditions in an attempt to determine seedling stage traits relevant for early screening for drought tolerance (Avramova et al. 2016). These examples of access in the form of bilateral cooperative projects that have led to peer-reviewed scientific publications therefore demonstrate the importance of plant phenotyping infrastructure and know-how.LiteratureGioia T., Nagel K.A., Beleggia R. et al. (2015). The impact of domestication on the phenotypic architecture of durum wheat under contrasting nitrogen fertilisation. Journal of Experimental Botany 66, 5519-5530. Avramova V., Nagel K.A., AbdElgawad H., Bustos D., DuPlessis M., Fiorani F., Beemster G.T.S. (2016) Screening for drought tolerance of maize hybrids by multi-scale analysis of root and shoot traits at the seedling stage. Journal of Experimental Botany 67, 2453-2466. Nakhforoosh A., Bodewein T., Fiorani F., Gernot Bodner (2016). Identification of water use strategies at early growth stages in durum wheat from shoot phenotyping and physiological measurements. Frontiers in Plant Science 7, 1155