Genetics & breeding for stress tolerance
Recent advances in sequencing technologies have significantly reduced costs and improved access to genetic data. However, avoiding future breeding bottlenecks requires reliable and efficient phenotyping of large plant populations.
Accurate measurement of quantitative physiological traits (QPTs) is essential for plant research and breeding programs. These traits include plant growth rate, water use efficiency (WUE), and transpiration.
Measuring QPTs remains challenging due to the complexity of plant phenotypes and the involvement of multiple genes. High genotype-by-environment interactions (GxE) make accurate measurements even more difficult.
Additional challenges include the cost of large-scale plant phenotyping and variations in growing conditions. These factors highlight the importance of precise screening under controlled environmental conditions.
Quantitative, objective, and automated plant screening methods help researchers identify promising crop varieties more efficiently.
The PlantArray phenotyping system combines advanced plant screening technologies with decision-support algorithms. This approach enables researchers to identify promising crop lines at an early stage.
Early screening helps shorten the selection process before conducting essential field experiments.
PlantArray supports a wide variety of plant species, from Arabidopsis to Eucalyptus seedlings. The system accelerates plant selection across several agricultural and forestry applications, including:
Field crops and vegetable crops: Screening promising varieties for improved performance and productivity.
Biodiesel and biofuel crops: Identifying suitable plant varieties for bioenergy production.
Trees and forestry: Evaluating seedlings to identify promising trees for timber, fiber, and forestry applications.
Key benefits of using PlantArray solution:
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Shortens time to market: Enables pre-field functional mapping of large plant populations within just 3–4 weeks. This helps researchers identify plants with greater resistance to environmental stress.
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Measures growth rates and predicts yield: Provides accurate growth measurements and yield predictions. These predictions have demonstrated a strong correlation with field results.
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Reduces trial-and-error costs: Saves time, money, and personnel resources by identifying high-yielding plants under unfavorable conditions. This allows researchers to select promising candidates for further field experiments.
"Thanks to the high-throughput plant phenotyping equipment and automatic natures from Plant-Ditech, many notoriously difficult-to-source traits can now be easily acquired, enabling genetic association analysis."
