A Comparative Analysis of High-Throughput and Conventional Phenotyping: Validation of Plantarray System and Dynamic Physiological Traits for Drought Tolerance in Watermelon

Abstract

Drought stress is a major constraint on watermelon production worldwide. Conventional phenotyping methods for drought tolerance are often low-throughput and fail to capture dynamic physiological responses. This study validated the high-throughput phenotyping platform (Plantarray 3.0) against conventional methods by dynamically evaluating drought tolerance across 30 genetically diverse watermelon accessions. The Plantarray system quantified key dynamic traits, including transpiration rate (TR), transpiration maintenance ratio (TMR), and transpiration recovery ratios (TRRs), revealing distinct drought-response strategies. Principal component analysis (PCA) of these dynamic traits explained 96.4% of the total variance (PC1: 75.5%, PC2: 20.9%), clearly differentiating genotypes. A highly significant correlation (R = 0.941, p < 0.001) was found between the comprehensive drought tolerance rankings derived from Plantarray and conventional phenotyping. We identified five genotypes as highly tolerant and four as highly sensitive. The elite drought-tolerant germplasm, notably the wild species PI 537300 (Citrullus colocynthis) and the cultivated variety G42 (Citrullus lanatus), exhibited superior physiological performance and recovery capacity. The results demonstrate that the Plantarray system not only efficiently screens for drought tolerance but also provides deep insights into dynamic resistance mechanisms, offering a powerful tool and valuable genetic resources for breeding climate-resilient watermelon cultivars.

Plant phenotyping relevance

Plantarray高スループット表現型解析プラットフォームを従来法と比較検証し、動的な植物生理形質による乾燥耐性評価を中心に扱っているため。

Code and data availability

植物フェノタイピング解析を再現する公開資産であることを、入力本文と直接リンクから確認できなかったため保留しました。

No evidence-backed public reproduction asset is currently recorded.