Phenotyping transgenic wheat in a greenhouse through multispectral and thermal imaging

Abstract. Effective screening of wheat genotypes for abiotic stresses tolerance is a vital step for crop improvement. Nowadays, different sensing technologies can be used not only for a better control of stress levels but also for developing high-throughput phenotyping systems. In this study, transgenic and non-transgenic wheat lines are grown under two different irrigation regimes in a greenhouse. Precise water application control is achieved through constant monitoring of soil moisture sensors distributed at all experimental plots. A moving platform with two cameras (a multispectral camera and a thermal camera) is developed to capture top view wheat images (once a week) during the course of the experiment. Image processing algorithms are developed to calculate wheat growth index. Leaf temperature is extracted from thermal images with the help of the multispectral images. The expected different responses of transgenic lines to the water stress levels were not detected by the sensor based trait measurements. However, a sensor system, combining cameras and different sensors with a high level of automation, could be developed in the future for greenhouse phenotyping based on this study.