High throughput phenotyping of root growth dynamics, lateral root formation, root architecture and root hair development enabled by PlaRoM

Nima Yazdanbakhsh; Joachim Fisahn

doi:10.1071/FP09167

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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High throughput phenotyping of root growth dynamics, lateral root formation, root architecture and root hair development enabled by PlaRoM

Nima Yazdanbakhsh ^A ^B and Joachim Fisahn ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, 14476 Potsdam Golm, Germany.

^B Corresponding author. Email: yazdanbakhsh@mpimp-golm.mpg.de

This paper originates from a presentation at the 1st International Plant Phenomics Symposium, Canberra, Australia, April 2009.

Functional Plant Biology 36(11) 938-946 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP09167
Submitted: 2 July 2009 Accepted: 15 July 2009 Published: 5 November 2009

Abstract

Plant organ phenotyping by non-invasive video imaging techniques provides a powerful tool to assess physiological traits and biomass production. We describe here a range of applications of a recently developed plant root monitoring platform (PlaRoM). PlaRoM consists of an imaging platform and a root extension profiling software application. This platform has been developed for multi parallel recordings of root growth phenotypes of up to 50 individual seedlings over several days, with high spatial and temporal resolution. PlaRoM can investigate root extension profiles of different genotypes in various growth conditions (e.g. light protocol, temperature, growth media). In particular, we present primary root growth kinetics that was collected over several days. Furthermore, addition of 0.01% sucrose to the growth medium provided sufficient carbohydrates to maintain reduced growth rates in extended nights. Further analysis of records obtained from the imaging platform revealed that lateral root development exhibits similar growth kinetics to the primary root, but that root hairs develop in a faster rate. The compatibility of PlaRoM with currently accessible software packages for studying root architecture will be discussed. We are aiming for a global application of our collected root images to analytical tools provided in remote locations.

Additional keywords: Arabidopsis, growth profiling, video imaging.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Max Planck Society and by a contract to N. Y. We thank Professor Dr M Stitt (MPI Potsdam, Germany) for valuable discussion during the development of PlaRoM.

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