PlantRing: A high-throughput wearable sensor system for decoding plant growth, water relations and innovating irrigation

Abstract

The combination of flexible electronics and plant science has generated various plant-wearable sensors, yet challenges persist in their applications in real-world agriculture, particularly in high-throughput settings. Overcoming the trade-off between sensing sensitivity and range, adapting them to a wide range of crop types, and bridging the gap between sensor measurements and biological understandings remain the primary obstacles. Here we introduce PlantRing, an innovative, nano-flexible sensing system designed to address the aforementioned challenges. PlantRing employs bio-sourced carbonized silk georgette as the strain sensing material, offering exceptional resolution (tensile deformation: < 100 μm), stretchability (tensile strain up to 100 %), and remarkable durability (season long), exceeding existing plant strain sensors. PlantRing effectively monitors plant growth and water status, by measuring organ circumference dynamics, performing reliably under harsh conditions and being adaptable to a wide range of plants. Applying PlantRing to study fruit cracking in tomato and watermelon reveals novel hydraulic mechanism, characterized by genotype-specific excess sap flow within the plant to fruiting branches. Its high-throughput application enabled large-scale quantification of stomatal sensitivity to soil drought, a traditionally difficult-to-phenotype trait, facilitating drought tolerant germplasm selection. Combing PlantRing with soybean mutant led to the discovery of a potential novel function of the GmLNK2 circadian clock gene in stomatal regulation. More practically, integrating PlantRing into feedback irrigation achieves simultaneous water conservation and quality improvement, signifying a paradigm shift from experience- or environment-based to plant-based feedback control. Collectively, PlantRing represents a groundbreaking tool ready to revolutionize botanical studies, agriculture, and forestry.

Plant phenotyping relevance

PlantRingという高スループットの植物装着型センサーを開発し、器官周径、水状態、気孔感度などの植物形質を直接測定することが研究の中心であるため、植物フェノタイピング手法として含める。

Code and data availability

The supplied blocks describe the PlantRing sensor system and its phenotyping applications but contain no public phenotype datasets, sensor data deposits, author analysis code, or data/code availability statements with URLs. The only code-like mention (S1 Code) is a supplementary reference without any availability or de

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