A high-throughput imaging system to quantitatively analyze the growth dynamics of plant seedlings.
Most current methods for analyzing the growth rate of plant seedlings are limited to low-throughput experimental configurations. We have developed an automatic system to investigate the dynamics of the growth of hypocotyls using Arabidopsis as model. This system is able to capture time-lapse infrared images of 24 seedlings automatically, with a spatial resolution of 2 μm per pixel and temporal interval of 5 min. Seedling length is rapidly calculated using automated geometric image-processing algorithms. With this high-throughput platform, we have investigated the genotype dependent difference of growth patterns, as well as the response to plant hormone - ethylene. Our analyses suggest that cytoskeleton function is not required in ethylene-induced hypocotyl inhibition. This novel integrative method can be applied to large-scale dynamic screening of plants, as well as any other image-based biological studies related to dynamic growth.
Biodynamic Optical Imaging Center, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Yongfan
Y
Men
Qiang
Q
Yu
Zitian
Z
Chen
Jianbin
J
Wang
Yanyi
Y
Huang
Hongwei
H
Guo
D000465:Algorithms; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D004867:Equipment Design; D005030:Ethylenes / Q000737:chemistry; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D018546:Hypocotyl / Q000235:genetics; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000378:metabolism; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D036226:Seedlings / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors
D005030:Ethylenes; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; C036216:ethylene