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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Salinas, California » Crop Improvement and Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #326158
Title: Phenomic approaches and tools for phytopathologists

Author
item Simko, Ivan
item JIMENEZ-BERNI, JOSE - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
item SIRAULT, XAVIER - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

Submitted to: Phytopathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/3/2016
Publication Date: 12/15/2016
Citation: Simko, I., Jimenez-Berni, J.A., Sirault, X.R.R. 2016. Phenomic approaches and tools for phytopathologists. Phytopathology. 107:6-17.

Interpretive Summary: Plant diseases cause economically important loss of yield and quality of agricultural production worldwide, thus affecting food safety and security. New cultivars with resistance to devastating diseases would reduce economic losses in the areas under disease pressure while limiting extensive use of chemicals. Development of new cultivars with high levels of resistance usually requires extensive phenotypic evaluations of germplasm, hybrids, and breeding lines that are labor intensive, expensive, and time consuming. Appropriate methods and tools for phenotypic analysis may allow pre-symptomatic detection of disease-related changes in plants or to identify changes that are not visually apparent. This review focuses on the use of semi-automatic and automatic phenomic tools in plant pathology such as those related to digital imaging, chlorophyll fluorescence imaging, spectral imaging, and thermal imaging. A brief introduction is provided for less often used approaches like magnetic resonance, soft x-ray imaging, ultrasound, and detection of volatile compounds. We hope that this concise review will stimulate further development and use of tools for automatic, non-destructive, and high-throughput phenotyping of plant-pathogen interaction.

Technical Abstract: Plant phenomics approaches aim to evaluate traits such as growth, performance, and composition of plants using a suite of non-invasive technologies. The ultimate goal is to link phenotypic traits to the genetic information for particular genotypes, thus creating the bridge between the phenome and genome. Application of sensing technologies for detecting specific phenotypic reactions occurring during plant - pathogen interaction offers new opportunities for elucidating the physiological mechanisms that link pathogen infection and disease symptoms in the host, and also provides a faster approach in the selection of genetic material that is resistant to specific pathogens or strains. Appropriate phenomics methods and tools may also allow pre-symptomatic detection of disease-related changes in plants or to identify changes that are not visually apparent. This review focuses on the use of semi-automatic and automatic phenomic tools in plant pathology such as those related to digital imaging, chlorophyll fluorescence imaging, spectral imaging, and thermal imaging. A brief introduction is provided for less often used approaches like magnetic resonance, soft x-ray imaging, ultrasound, and detection of volatile compounds. We hope that this concise review will stimulate further development and use of tools for automatic, non-destructive, and high-throughput phenotyping of plant-pathogen interaction.