title: The Microphenotron: a robotic miniaturized plant phenotyping platform with diverse applications in chemical biology.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chemical genetics provides a powerful alternative to conventional genetics for understanding gene function. However, its application to plants has been limited by the lack of a technology that allows detailed phenotyping of whole-seedling development in the context of a high-throughput chemical screen. We have therefore sought to develop an automated micro-phenotyping platform that would allow both root and shoot development to be monitored under conditions where the phenotypic effects of large numbers of small molecules can be assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 'Microphenotron' platform uses 96-well microtitre plates to deliver chemical treatments to seedlings ofArabidopsis thalianaL. and is based around four components: (a) the 'Phytostrip', a novel seedling growth device that enables chemical treatments to be combined with the automated capture of images of developing roots and shoots; (b) an illuminated robotic platform that uses a commercially available robotic manipulator to capture images of developing shoots and roots; (c) software to control the sequence of robotic movements and integrate these with the image capture process; (d) purpose-made image analysis software for automated extraction of quantitative phenotypic data. Imaging of each plate (representing 80 separate assays) takes 4 min and can easily be performed daily for time-course studies. As currently configured, the Microphenotron has a capacity of 54 microtitre plates in a growth room footprint of 2.1 m2, giving a potential throughput of up to 4320 chemical treatments in a typical 10 days experiment. The Microphenotron has been validated by using it to screen a collection of 800 natural compounds for qualitative effects on root development and to perform a quantitative analysis of the effects of a range of concentrations of nitrate and ammonium on seedling development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Microphenotron is an automated screening platform that for the first time is able to combine large numbers of individual chemical treatments with a detailed analysis of whole-seedling development, and particularly root system development. The Microphenotron should provide a powerful new tool for chemical genetics and for wider chemical biology applications, including the development of natural and synthetic chemical products for improved agricultural sustainability.
authors.affiliation: Engineering Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YR UK.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Burrell
authors.affiliation: Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ UK.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fozard
authors.affiliation: Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ UK.
authors.forename: Geoff H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Holroyd
authors.affiliation: The Centre for Plant Integrative Biology, School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, LE12 5RD UK.|School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus, Nottingham, NG8 1BB UK.
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: French
authors.affiliation: The Centre for Plant Integrative Biology, School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, LE12 5RD UK.|School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, Jubilee Campus, Nottingham, NG8 1BB UK.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Pound
authors.affiliation: Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ UK.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Bigley
authors.affiliation: Engineering Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YR UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: James Taylor
authors.affiliation: Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ UK.
authors.forename: Brian G
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7973-7280
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Forde
keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana; Automated; Biostimulants; Chemical biology; Chemical genetics; Eragrostis tef; Plant phenotyping; Robotic; Root system architecture; Shoot development