High throughout Plant Phenotyping at the Arkansas Plant Powered Production Center

Manual phenotyping of large sets of plants requires significant resources and expertise and typically is not feasible for detecting subtle phenotypes. In recognition of this need to develop quantitative, reproducible, and automated phenotyping systems for analyzing large numbers of plants, the Arkansas Center for Plant Powered Production has recently acquired a Scanalyzer HTS. This instrument is equipped with visible, fluorescence, near infrared, and laser cameras that empower unbiased, non-invasive, automated, and effective screening of plant phenotypes, particularly of small plants. To illustrate the power of this technology, in this work we present our progress on the characterization of Arabidopsis lines over-expressing genes that enhance plant growth, biomass accumulation, and stress tolerance. These genes are a plant proton-translocating pyrophosphatase (H⁺-PPase) studied by the Gaxiola Laboratory (Arizona State University) and a myo-inositol oxygenase (MIOX4) first characterized in the Lorence Laboratory (Arkansas State University). H⁺-PPase over-expressers can grow well in toxic levels of salts, develop robust aerial and root systems, and can resist drought, while MIOX4 over-expressers have elevated vitamin C content and are more tolerant to stresses and environmental pollutants compared to controls and displayed enhanced growth of both aerial and underground tissues. Here we will illustrate how we are using the various cameras of the Scanalyzer HTS to phenotype a statistically significant number of individuals of the parent lines as well as H⁺-PPase/MIOX4 crosses.