Digital & non-invasive
As part of the research and innovation initiative d4agrotech of the province of Lower Austria and with the support of the funding programme "Expansion of Research and Technology Infrastructure" (IWB/EFRE), a digital key technology in the field of plant breeding has been successfully established.
Phenotype
The effect of the experimental conditions on the plants is determined by analysing and describing the phenotype of the plant. The phenotype represents the external appearance of a plant, which is influenced by its genetic disposition (genotype) and by interaction with external environmental influences. The new infrastructure makes it possible to record a wide range of phenotype parameters in a high-throughput process using non-invasive, imaging methods while simultaneously simulating a wide range of climatic conditions.
Specifications:
Our two phenotyping containers offer a total of four technically identical, separate growth chambers, the specifications of which are described below. Each chamber can be individually customised to the respective project requirements.
Realisable environmental conditions:
- Temperature: -5°C to 40°C
- Humidity: 40 - 80% relative humidity
- Light: Flexibly customisable LED light spectrum (up to 1,000 µmol m-2 s-1 PPFD)
- CO2: Ambient concentration (450ppm) to 1,500ppm
Camera modules (top view)
- RGB module: Multispectral imaging with three colours (red/green/blue) in the visible range for recording morphological parameters such as
- leaf area index
- relative growth rates
- Changes in leaf position
- Plant fitness (greening index)
- FC/RGB module: Combination of multispectral imaging in the visible range and in the fluorescence range to record physiological parameters such as
- Chlorophyll fluorescence (dark or light-adapted plants)
- Chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics
- Efficiency of photosynthetic performance at different stages of development
- 3D module: The plant morphology is scanned using a laser scanner and 3D images are created.
- VNIR module: Hyperspectral imaging covers the visible and near-infrared wavelength range from 380nm to 900nm. The acquisition of the spectral reflectance is used to create three-dimensional profiles, which are used to interpret the following parameters:
- Quantification of healthy or diseased plant parts
- Detection of biochemical components
- Physiological changes in the plant
Capacities:
Each growth chamber offers space for 20 trays, resulting in capacities of up to 400 plants per chamber, depending on the pot size.
