Method development, validation and application for root and shoot phenotyping at the Jülich Plant Phenotyping Center

The Jülich Plant Phenotyping Centre (JPPC) focuses on the development and application of high-throughput, non-invasive phenotyping methods for shoot and root morphological and physiological traits. A multi-disciplinary team of plant biologists, physicists, engineers, image processing and data management specialists designs, develops and validates new image- and physics-based methods for quantitative plant traits analysis, and progresses these methods towards routine workflows. These include the collection, management and integration of metadata on plants and their environment. The plant species grown in the systems include a wide range of model and crop species for which research questions are being addressed on responses to abiotic stress related to climate change and the sustainable use of resources, including the improvement of water and nutrient use efficiency.JPPC actively cooperates with both academic and industrial partners, and enables access to state-of-the-art phenotyping systems and experimental procedures. The JPPC infrastructure is currently available and in use in national and international research networks such as the German Plant Phenotyping Network (DPPN), and the European Plant Phenotyping Network (EPPN2020). The access for selected users and collaborative projects includes the use of the infrastructure, and the logistic, technological and scientific support required to conduct the proposed experiment according to good phenotyping practices, and to answer the biological question under review in a most pertinent manner