01 Multi-Sensor, High-Throughput Plant Phenotyping Platform – PHENOPlant

Image gallery:

Contact:

Jakub Jez

Vienna BioCenter Core Facilities GmbH (VBCF)
Plant Sciences Facility (PlantS)
Dr. Bohr Gasse 3
1030 Vienna
Austria

Email: jakub.jez@vbcf.ac.at
Phone: +43664808477090
Web: https://www.viennabiocenter.org/vbcf/plant-sciences/
Web: https://youtu.be/7-SmEMldzyA?feature=shared

Key facts:

Description:

Name PHENOPlant
Location Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Vienna.
Category Multi-Sensor, highly controlled environment
Environment Temperature: 0°C – 40°C; Humidity: 40 – 80% rel.hum.; Light: adjustable LED light spectrum, up to 1000 µmol m-2 s-1; CO2: ambient – 2000 ppm; Highly controlled environments & dynamic simulations
Sensors PAM chlorophyll fluorescence (top-view), LWIR thermal (side multi-view), 3D laser scan, hyperspectral (VNIR & SWIR, top-view), RGB (top- and side multi-view), gravimetric watering system.
Traits Morphometric and physiological
Capacity Agar plates: 1600; Pots: 200 x 5L or 400 x 3L or 800 x 2L or 4000 x 250mL pots
Limitations Plant height max.: 58-68cm (depending on pot size)
References First manuscript in preparation
URL https://www.viennabiocenter.org/vbcf/plant-sciences/phenoplant/

The PHENOPlant research infrastructure (RI) is designed for non-invasive, morphometric and physiological high-throughput phenotyping of small plants (e.g. Arabidopsis) and mid-size crop plants (e.g. wheat, barley) and trees (e.g. spruce, oak).
The system can process samples on agar-plates and different type of pots ranging from 250mL up to 5L and is fully integrated into a state-of-the-art walk-in phytotron providing highly controlled plant growth conditions.
Furthermore, the platform facilitates precise environmental (live) simulations across different climate zones as well as controlled plant stress experiments (cold- or heat stress). Plants are transported on conveyor belts from the growth area to the imaging cabinets equipped with state-of-the-art sensors including multi-excitation PAM kinetic chlorophyll fluorescence imaging, RGB, hyperspectral imaging (VNIR & SWIR), thermal imaging and 3D scanning. Following the imaging process, the soil water content is adjusted by an automated, gravimetric watering system, facilitating highly controlled drought stress experiments.
Potential applications are basic and applied plant research questions where objective, reproducible and high-throughput phenotype assessment (morphology and physiology) is requested. This includes abiotic- and biotic stress response (e.g. drought, cold, heat light, salt, pathogens), plant breeding, but also testing of e.g. fertiliser, biostimulants, herbicides. The PHENOPlant project evolved out of the Austrian Plant Phenotyping Network (APPN.at) initiative, was funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and built by PSI (Photon System Instruments).
The infrastructure is operated by the Plant Sciences Facility of the Vienna BioCenter Core Facilities GmbH and available in a fee4service mode to national and international user from academia and industry.