Application of deep learning for the analysis of stomata: a review of current methods and future directions

Abstract

Plant physiology and metabolism rely on the function of stomata, structures on the surface of above-ground organs that facilitate the exchange of gases with the atmosphere. The morphology of the guard cells and corresponding pore that make up the stomata, as well as the density (number per unit area), are critical in determining overall gas exchange capacity. These characteristics can be quantified visually from images captured using microscopy, traditionally relying on time-consuming manual analysis. However, deep learning (DL) models provide a promising route to increase the throughput and accuracy of plant phenotyping tasks, including stomatal analysis. Here we review the published literature on the application of DL for stomatal analysis. We discuss the variation in pipelines used, from data acquisition, pre-processing, DL architecture, and output evaluation to post-processing. We introduce the most common network structures, the plant species that have been studied, and the measurements that have been performed. Through this review, we hope to promote the use of DL methods for plant phenotyping tasks and highlight future requirements to optimize uptake, predominantly focusing on the sharing of datasets and generalization of models as well as the caveats associated with utilizing image data to infer physiological function.

Plant phenotyping relevance

気孔画像から形態・密度などの植物形質を推定する深層学習手法を体系的にレビューしており、フェノタイピング手法が中心である。

Code and data availability

This is a review article; all tools, datasets, and code mentioned (LabelImg, PixelAnnotationTool, StomataCounter, LabelStoma, etc.) belong to cited prior studies or are generic annotation libraries, not assets reproducing this paper's own measurements or analysis. No authors' public code/data URL for this paper is in a

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