Dynamic Plant Phenotyping for future proofing crop productivity

当前最紧迫的研究战略挑战之一是满足人口增长对粮食生产的需求，据估计，到2050年，我们需要多生产约70%的粮食，而且我们必须在面对气候变化的情况下实现这一目标。尽管分子生物学和转基因方法在改变植物性能方面取得了重大进展，但阻碍进展的瓶颈现在决定了植物的表型。植物表型指的是可观察到的性状（如高度、颜色），植物表型是对这些性状的评估，在这个应用中包括使用专门的相机来捕捉各种条件下植物的空间和时间图像，并使用这些来确定关键性状，如生长（使用RGB）、光合速率（使用叶绿素荧光）、水分损失和叶温（使用热成像）。plantscreenm还采用了一个高光谱相机，该相机能够在覆盖电磁频谱的不同波长范围内拍摄植物的反射图像。尽管英国有几个表型平台提供表型功能（包括上面提到的一些传感器），但这些仅限于温室、小型封闭平台或田间，因此对从事转基因作物研究的人提供的能力有限。此外，我们需要能够了解植物在现实世界波动环境中的表型，例如田间情况的动态环境或未来气候条件的预测变化。因此，这里提议的设备投标将提供一个动态筛选平台（DynSCREEN），其中包含一个最先进的机器人Plant screenm，它被安置在一个全新的动态室内环境中，能够模拟任何现在和未来的室外环境。这种能力不仅将使用户能够将遗传资源转化为作物改良的目标，而且还将促进新的表型方法的发展。高光谱反射率将通过选择各种反射波长来开发新的表型工具和方案，这些反射波长可以用作无法成像的感兴趣特征的代理测量。例如，从与关键光合酶Rubisco的最大容量相关的高光谱反射光谱中开发了模型。我们还将在Essex之前的工作基础上，开发一种用于植物水分利用效率的高通量筛，这是一种相对于水分损失的碳获得的测量方法。这将通过结合提供光合电子传递指示的叶绿素荧光测量和代表水分损失的热测量来实现，从而产生内在水分利用效率的图像。迄今为止，在任何现有的表型平台上都没有实现这一点，因此将提供独特的英国能力，并确保英国表型仍然处于这一动态研究领域的前沿。

One of the most pressing current research strategic challenges is meeting the demands for food production as the population increases, and it is estimated that we need to produce around 70% more food by the year 2050 and we also must achieve this in the face of climate change. Although there has been significant advances in molecular biology and genetically modified approaches to altering plant performance the bottleneck preventing advancement is now determining the phenotype of the plant. A plant phenotype refers to observable traits (e.g. height, colour) and plant phenotyping is the assessment of such traits, and in this application include the use of specialised cameras that capture spatial and temporal images of plants under various conditions and use these to determine key traits such as growth (using RGB), photosynthetic rates (using chlorophyll fluorescence), water loss and leaf temperature (using thermography). The PlantscreenTM also employed a hyperspectral camera that is capable of taking reflectance images from plants at a range of different wavelength that covers the electromagnetic spectrum.Although several UK phenotyping platforms provide phenotyping capabilities (including some of the sensors mentioned above) these are limited to glasshouses, small contained platforms, or the field and as such provide limited if any capability for those working on GM crops. In addition we need to be able to understand the phenotype of the plant in a real-world fluctuating environment such as the dynamic environment of a field situation or the predicted changes in climatic conditions in the future. Therefore the proposed equipment bid here will provide a dynamic screening platform (DynSCREEN) with a state-of-the-art robotic Plant ScreenTM housed in a novel newly constructed dynamic indoor environment capable of mimicking any outdoor environment both now and in the future. This capability will not only enable users to translate genetic resources into targets for crop improvement, but it will also facilitate the development of new phenotyping approaches. Hyperspectral reflectance will be used to develop new phenotyping tools and protocols by selecting various reflectance wavelengths that can be used as a proxy measurement for a trait of interest that it is not possible to image. For example, models have been developed from hyperspectral reflectance spectra that correlate with the maximal capacity of the key photosynthetic enzyme Rubisco. We will also build on previous work at Essex to develop a high throughput screen for plant water use efficiency which is a measure of carbon gained relative to water loss. This will be achieved by combining measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence that provide an indication of photosynthetic electron transports, with thermal measurements which are a proxy for water loss, producing images of intrinsic water use efficiency. This to date has not been achieved in any existing phenotyping platform and therefore will provide a unique UK capability and ensure that UK phenotyping remains at the forefront of this dynamic field of research.