Lecture Phenokey/Phenolytics – Wednesday

Lecture ‘High-throughput 3D Xray phenotyping from seed to seedling to optimize seed quality, seed treatments and to screen for early traits of field performance and stress tolerance‘

Lecturer: Dr. Antje Wolff

Wednesday, September 25, 12:00-12:45

Language: English

Purpose: Globally reproducible and quantitative morphological phenotypic big data along the entire development from seeds to seedlings and to plants in the field is the prerequisite ground truth data to research and optimize seeds and plants: because we can only optimize, what we can reliably measure. However, current phenotyping technologies still come with many limitations and constraints in terms of labor, throughput, standardization and data quality. This ground truth of a seed or plant phenotype is also necessary to effectively leverage and calibrate other indirect phenotypic information (e.g., color, NIR), as well as to establish phenotype-genotype links.

Technology: The patented phenoTest system relies on 3D-Xray CT to first capture 3D-volume image data of seeds in dry filter paper and the germinating individual seedlings in the humidified filter paper. Through an AI-based algorithm, all seed and plant organs are automatically segmented and measured in 3D, at thousands of seeds/seedlings per hour. The process can be run in fully automated, 24h operation and is industrially validated for several years. The phenoTest is universally applicable for all species, from fine grasses to forestry seeds.

As the containers are not opened during the germination process, each individual seed and seedling can be traced over time across the developmental process, capturing vigor (biomass production over time), germination speed and other developmental and growth dynamics. Due to the ability to capture the internal and external 3D phenotype of seeds in dry filter paper, including underfilling, underdevelopments, damages and defects, the seedling development can be 1:1 correlated and controlled to the respective seed quality.

Applications: The process provides objective and standardized morphological phenotypic big data on the speed and quality of seedling development, the homogeneity, degree of abnormalities, germination capacity and vigor of seed lots of different crop types. This data is crucial to optimize seed processing and storage, quality testing, including usable plant analysis, screening and testing of seed and plant treatments, sales decisions and plant breeding. For instance, this technology allows to screen ten-thousands of seedlings a day for specific early phenotypic seed or seedling traits which can be correlated with the performance in the field. As stress conditions such as heat, draught, salt can reproducibly be simulated at high throughput, the technology allows to screen for stress tolerance within and across genetics on a single plant level in the lab. If combined with sequencing of leaf samples, this method may allow to discover new genomic markers and establish genotype/phenotype links.

We will briefly present the phenoTest and the phenoScort, our patented 3D seed sorter, highlighting transformative applications relevant to the seed industry, to seed processors, to the agrochemical industry as well as to researchers.