DroughtSpotter XXL Precision Phenotyping Facility
The DroughtSpotter XXL, located at JLU's Agricuzltural Research Station in Rauischholzhausen, is a unique precision phenotyping facility for detailed investigation of drought stress responses in crop plants in a semi-controlled, field-like environment. The facility comprises 240 large plant containers, each filled with around 180kg of homogenised field soil mixed with sand and planted with the crop of interest in a miniature plot formation at field planting density. A fully automated watering system facilitates individual maintenance of every container at a pre-determined field water capacity level, with adjustments possible at any time during the growing season for implementation of specific drought scenarios.
The facility is located in a foil house with open sides to exclude rainfall but maintain more or less ambient temperature, airflow, humidity and insect visitation. Previous comparisons with multi-location field trials demonstrated that plot yields in the containers correlate well with field yields (Hohmann et al. 2016), meaning that the facility can generate data on beneficial drought stress responses relevant for yield under real-life conditions. Each container is placed on a precise gravimetric scale that automatically measures the weight of the container at 5-minute intervals, from sowing until harvest, in order to precisely track daily transpiration dynamics in response to ambient temperature and humidity changes, which are simultaneously tracked by multiple data-loggers placed throughout the facility.
In 2023, with funding from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) and the European Regional Development Fund (EFRE), the facility was upgraded with an automated multispectral 3D-imaging platform that is able to scan every container multiple times per day and generate 3-dimensional RGB and multispectral reflectance point-cloud images of the plants in each container. This enables us to investigate the relationship of dynamic plant architecture traits and spectral indices, at specific developmental times, to genotype-specific transpiration behaviour and water use patterns. So far the facility has been used to identify and elucidate interesting drought response traits for breeding of faba bean, rapeseed and wheat.
The DroughtSpotter XXL facility is currently fully booked with planned experiments until at least summer 2028. For information about potential cooperations (e.g. joint analysis of multispectral or transpiration data) or for information about potential use of the platform after 2028, please contact Rod Snowdon.
Funding
The automated 3D imaging platform, comprising a custom-built WIWAM phenotyper (SMO, BE) carrying a Dual PlantEye 600 3D plant scanner (Phenospex, NL), was installed with the help of research infrastructure grant 461868281 from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and co-funding from the European Fund for Rural Development (EFRE).
Literature
Hohmann M, Stahl A, Rudloff J, Wittkop B, Snowdon RJ (2016) Not a load of rubbish: Simulated field trials in large-scale containers. Plant Cell Environ 39: 2064-2073, doi: 10.1111/pce.12737
Moritz A, Eckert A, Vukasovic S, Snowdon R, Stahl A (2024) Physiological phenotyping of transpiration response to vapour pressure deficit in wheat. BMC Plant Biology 24:1032. doi: 10.1186/s12870-024-05692-3Moritz A, Eckert A, Vukasovic S, Snowdon R, Stahl A (2024) Physiological phenotyping of transpiration response to vapour pressure deficit in wheat. BMC Plant Biology 24:1032. doi: 10.1186/s12870-024-05692-3
Stahl A, Wittkop B, Snowdon RJ (2020) High-resolution digital phenotyping of water uptake and transpiration efficiency. Trends Plant Sci 25: 429-433, doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2020.02.001