Plant phenomics, from sensors to knowledge

Tardieu, Fran�ois; Cabrera-Bosquet, Lloren�; Pridmore, Tony P.; Bennett, Malcolm J.

Abstract

Major improvements in crop yield are needed to keep pace with population growth and climate change. While plant breeding efforts have greatly benefited from advances in genomics, profiling the crop phenome (i.e., the structure and function of plants) associated with allelic variants and environments remains a major technical bottleneck. Here, we review the conceptual and technical challenges facing plant phenomics. We first discuss how, given plants’ high levels of morphological plasticity, crop phenomics presents distinct challenges compared with studies in animals. Next, we present strategies for multi-scale phenomics, and describe how major improvements in imaging, sensor technologies and data analysis are now making high-throughput root, shoot, whole-plant and canopy phenomic studies possible. We then suggest that research in this area is entering a new stage of development, in which phenomic pipelines can help researchers transform large numbers of images and sensor data into knowledge, necessitating novel methods of data handling and modelling. Collectively, these innovations are helping accelerate the selection of the next generation of crops more sustainable and resilient to climate change, and whose benefits promise to scale from physiology to breeding and to deliver real world impact for ongoing global food security efforts.

Citation

Tardieu, F., Cabrera-Bosquet, L., Pridmore, T. P., & Bennett, M. J. (2017). Plant phenomics, from sensors to knowledge. Current Biology, 27(15), R770-R783. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.055

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 12, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Aug 7, 2017
• Publication Date: 2017-08
• Deposit Date: Sep 15, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 8, 2018
• Journal: Current Biology
• Print ISSN: 0960-9822
• Electronic ISSN: 1879-0445
• Publisher: Cell Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 15
• Article Number: R770-R783
• Pages: R770-R783
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.055
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/877029
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982217306218?via%3Dihub
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Plant Phenomics, From Sensors to Knowledge; Journal Title: Current Biology; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.055; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2017 Elsevier Ltd.