title: 3D Laser Triangulation for Plant Phenotyping in Challenging Environments.
abstract: To increase the understanding of how the plant phenotype is formed by genotype and environmental interactions, simple and robust high-throughput plant phenotyping methods should be developed and considered. This would not only broaden the application range of phenotyping in the plant research community, but also increase the ability for researchers to study plants in their natural environments. By studying plants in their natural environment in high temporal resolution, more knowledge on how multiple stresses interact in defining the plant phenotype could lead to a better understanding of the interaction between plant responses and epigenetic regulation. In the present paper, we evaluate a commercial 3D NIR-laser scanner (PlantEye, Phenospex B.V., Herleen, The Netherlands) to track daily changes in plant growth with high precision in challenging environments. Firstly, we demonstrate that the NIR laser beam of the scanner does not affect plant photosynthetic performance. Secondly, we demonstrate that it is possible to estimate phenotypic variation amongst the growth pattern of ten genotypes of Brassica napus L. (rapeseed), using a simple linear correlation between scanned parameters and destructive growth measurements. Our results demonstrate the high potential of 3D laser triangulation for simple measurements of phenotypic variation in challenging environments and in a high temporal resolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, Kirstinebjergvej 10, 5792 Aarslev, Denmark. katrine.kjaer@food.au.dk.
authors.forename: Katrine Heinsvig
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kjaer
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, Kirstinebjergvej 10, 5792 Aarslev, Denmark. coo@food.au.dk.
authors.forename: Carl-Otto
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Ottosen
mesh_terms: D001901:Botany / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D029688:Brassica napus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D004867:Equipment Design; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D010641:Phenotype; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: 3D laser scanner; automated growth measurement; chlorophyll fluorescence; growth rate; high-throughput phenotyping (HTPP); leaf area; photosystem II activity; rapeseed (Brassica napus); sensor-to-plant concept; shoot biomass