RiceMultimodalX-ray / CTRootMorphology / geometry measurementPhysiological trait estimationGrowth / time-series analysisGrowth / development / phenologyRoot system architecture
Rhizosphere oxidation is a key adaptive mechanism in reductive soil environments, in which oxygen released from roots alters rhizosphere redox conditions and regulates biogeochemical processes. Rice plants possess an internal oxygen transport system, and radial oxygen loss (ROL) from roots is closely associated with root development. However, the spatial patterns of ROL in soil and their relationships with root traits remain poorly characterized. In this study, we developed a multimodal imaging system that integrates planar oxygen optodes with X-ray computed tomography to simultaneously visualize rhizosphere oxidation and root development in rice. Daily time-course tracking of individual crown roots revealed dynamic changes in the spatial distribution and magnitude of rhizosphere oxygen in relation to root elongation and aging. Root thickness was positively correlated with dissolved oxygen levels near root tips. Genotypic comparisons further identified a cultivar with reduced rhizosphere oxidation despite possessing thicker roots among the tested genotypes, thereby indicating the involvement of additional physiological processes. Overall, these findings demonstrate that rhizosphere oxidation is regulated by root growth stage and thickness and dynamically modulated during root development.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods平面酸素オプトードとX線CTを統合したマルチモーダル画像システムを開発し、根の発達と根圏酸化を時系列・個体別に定量化しており、表現型取得手法が研究の中心である。
abstractwe developed a multimodal imaging system that integrates planar oxygen optodes with X-ray computed tomography to simultaneously visualize rhizosphere oxidation and root development in rice.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's Data availability statement explicitly deposits the authors' RG2DO-Root analysis program together with sample optode and CT images (the paper's phenotyping inputs) in a public GitHub repository, matching the allowed URL.Code · publicing
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This work was supported by project JPNP18016, commissioned by the New Energy and
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Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), JST CREST (JPMJCR17O1),
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and JST ALCA-Next (JPMJAN23D3).
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Data availability
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The source code and sample data (optode and CT images) are available from the
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GitHub repository (https://github.com/tsubasa-kawai28/RG2DO-Root).15
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References
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Aguilar EA et al. 2003. Oxygen distribution and movement, respiration and nutrient
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loading in banana roots (Musa spp. L.) subjected to aerated and oxygen-depleted
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environments. Plant Soil. 253:91–102. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024598319404.20
Armstrong W, Wright EJ. 1975. Radial oxygen loss fromOpen asset ↗https://github.com/tsubasa-kawai28/RG2DO-Root · RG2DO-Rootpdf-raw-page:19 lines:1-82Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · OpenAlex · Crossref · checked 14 Sept 2026
Computed tomography enables non-destructive phenotyping of fruit internal structure but traditionally requires hundreds of projections, limiting throughput. Under sparse-view conditions, conventional and learning-based methods both suffer from streaking artifacts and regional distortions that degrade trait quantification. This study present CitrusGS, an integrated framework that achieves high-fidelity 3D reconstruction and precise morphological phenotyping of citrus fruit from only 15 projections using radiative 3D Gaussian splatting. Our method employs sparse-point initialization, optimized loss composite, and dual-stage pruning to suppress artifacts while preserving anatomically critical details with significantly higer convergence efficiency. In the citrus fruit datasets, CitrusGS achieves 29.78 dB PSNR and 0.870 SSIM, outperforming corresponding baseline method by 1.58 dB and 0.067 in SSIM, and enables automated extraction of ten external and internal phenotypic traits with R 2 larger than 0.944. Moreover, the framework shows initial zero-shot transferability across pathological citrus samples and additional horticultural specimens without retraining. By reconciling acquisition efficiency with anatomical fidelity using low-cost X-ray hardware, CitrusGS provides a promising framework for high-throughput, non-destructive phenotyping in breeding and grading applications.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods柑橘果実の疎視野CT再構成法を開発・検証し、内部・外部形質を自動抽出するフェノタイピングが中心である。
abstractThis study present CitrusGS, an integrated framework that achieves high-fidelity 3D reconstruction and precise morphological phenotyping of citrus fruit from only 15 projections using radiative 3D Gaussian splatting.
Reproduction assets found保存済みの本文根拠を更新済みルールで再検証し、公開資産1件を確認しました。Code · publicOur codes are available at https://github.com/Petrichoror/CitrusGS .Open asset ↗Petrichoror/CitrusGSlines:325-387Code / dataset availability confirmedOpenAlex · Europe PMC · checked 5 Sept 2026
Traditional deep learning-based plant computed tomography (CT) image segmentation methods require a large amount of high-quality manually labeled data for model training specific to each species, leading to substantial labor costs and poor adaptability to new species. These limitations hinder the application of CT imaging in large-scale cross-species plant phenotyping analysis. Therefore, developing annotation-free and training-free plant CT image segmentation methods is of significant research and application value in reducing research costs and promoting the efficiency of cross-species analysis. To achieve this, we introduce an unsupervised zero-shot segmentation framework for cross-species plant CT images, DiffPlantCT. It is a 2D-to-3D framework that first segments all 2D slices and then assembles them in their original order to generate a 3D CT segmentation. For each slice, this framework directly constructs discriminative clustering features by combining the general semantic priors provided by the self-attention layers in a pre-trained stable diffusion model with the intrinsic grayscale distribution of original image, thereby completely avoiding the need for manual annotations. The method ultimately outputs segmentation results solely through unsupervised clustering, achieving zero-shot generalization without any model training or fine-tuning. To evaluate the feasibility of DiffPlantCT in cross-species segmentation, we benchmark the segmentation performance on two public datasets (walnut fruit and barley spike) and two self-collected datasets (wheat spike and rice panicle). The results show that DiffPlantCT achieved the best performance, with a 41.6% improvement in overall mIoU compared to the state-of-the-art unsupervised method. For the first time, we demonstrate annotation-free, training-free segmentation of cross-species plant CT images successfully.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods植物CT画像から3D形状を抽出する、アノテーション不要・学習不要の分割手法を開発し、複数作物データセットで性能評価しており、表現型取得手法が研究の中心である。
abstractwe introduce an unsupervised zero-shot segmentation framework for cross-species plant CT images, DiffPlantCT.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper open-sources the DiffPlantCT implementation code on GitHub and benchmarks on two public plant CT datasets (walnut fruit via figshare; barley spike via Plant Methods), all with explicit availability statements and matching allowed URLs.Code · publicThe datasets and implementation code of the DiffPlantCT framework are open-sourced on GitHub at https://github.com/WeizhenLiuBioinform/DiffPlantCT_Zero-Shot_Plant_CT_Segmentation .Open asset ↗WeizhenLiuBioinform/DiffPlantCT_Zero-Shot_Plant_CT_Segmentationlines:220-287Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · OpenAlex · checked 13 Sept 2026
Among carnivorous plants, the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is known for its rapid (<1 s) trap closure. Although buckling instability, hydrostatic pressure, and hydroelastic coupling have all been proposed to be involved, the nature of this process and the relationship between trap size and curvature remain elusive. Here, we monitored the closure of Venus flytraps and performed micro-CT scanning and 3D reconstruction, revealing that increasing angular velocity was correlated with higher values of a non-dimensional shape index. Based on these experimental data, we constructed a geometric model of the trap that takes leaf orientation into account. We found that leaf curvature is dependent on leaf size, a relationship we denote as a size-curvature constraint. We further propose a curvature design derived from differential deformations of a two-layer model of the leaf, which could be a powerful tool to control the curvatures of soft and bending surface structures in the field of biomimetics.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsマイクロCTと3D再構成で葉の閉鎖運動・曲率を定量化し、幾何モデルでサイズ–曲率関係を推定することが研究の中心であり、植物形態・運動状態のフェノタイピング手法に該当する。
abstractHere, we monitored the closure of Venus flytraps and performed micro-CT scanning and 3D reconstruction, revealing that increasing angular velocity was correlated with higher values of a non-dimensional shape index.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's Data Availability statement points to an authors' GitHub page hosting all data files and related rendering files for the Venus flytrap closure measurements and 3D reconstructions, matching an allowed URL.Dataset · publicAll data files and related rendering files are available from the github ( https://satorutsugawa.github.io/flytrap_geometric_model_datashare/) .Open asset ↗githublines:105-144Code / dataset availability confirmedOpenAlex · Europe PMC · checked 5 Sept 2026
Accurate three-dimensional (3D) nuclear instance segmentation is a prerequisite for quantitative phenotyping in volumetric microscopy, yet remains challenging in densely packed tissues, irregular nuclear morphologies, and across heterogeneous imaging modalities. Here we present NucVerse3D, a deep-learning framework for generalized 3D nuclei instance segmentation that combines a residual attention 3D U-Net architecture with a reversible gradient-field representation for robust centroid-aware instance reconstruction. NucVerse3D is trained end to end in 3D using modality-agnostic preprocessing and isotropic scale normalization, enabling deployment across confocal microscopy, two-photon microscopy, light-sheet microscopy, micro-computed tomography, and scanning electron microscopy volumes. We benchmarked NucVerse3D on seven volumetric datasets spanning multiple species and tissues, comprising more than forty thousand manually annotated nuclei, including newly released ground-truth datasets of mouse liver tissue (control and hepatocellular carcinoma) and Drosophila brain glial nuclei. Across datasets, NucVerse3D achieved consistently high precision and competitive recall, resulting in strong F1-scores and average precision across a wide range of imaging conditions. While a modest precision-recall imbalance is observed in certain datasets, favoring high-confidence detections, this behavior reflects a conservative instance reconstruction strategy that prioritizes accurate boundary delineation and reduces false positive segmentation in densely packed and morphologically heterogeneous tissues. A single generalized model trained on pooled data matched the performance of dataset-specific models, and ablation experiments demonstrated that preprocessing and scale normalization substantially contribute to performance under strict intersection-over-union criteria. To demonstrate the biomedical utility of NucVerse3D, we applied it to 3D liver images from a mouse model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to enable spatially resolved 3D nuclear phenotyping. In healthy liver tissue, nuclear DNA content and nuclear volume exhibited a tightly regulated log-log scaling relationship. In contrast, tumor-adjacent and tumor regions displayed progressive disruption of this coupling, forming spatially coherent domains of nuclear DNA-volume decoupling that are not detectable in conventional two-dimensional histology. We quantify this phenomenon using a Nuclear Decoupling Score (NDS), revealing increased nuclear instability aligned with pathological tissue remodeling highlighting NDS as a potential quantitative biomarker of dysplastic and tumor tissue. Together, NucVerse3D provides a robust and generalizable solution for 3D nuclear instance segmentation and enables quantitative nuclear phenotyping across imaging modalities.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods3D核セグメンテーション手法を開発し、多様な画像データセットでベンチマーク・検証したうえで、核形態とDNA量の定量的フェノタイピングに応用しており、植物対象ではないため本索引の対象外となる可能性はあるが、提示内容上はフェノタイピング手法研究として中心的である。
abstractAccurate three-dimensional (3D) nuclear instance segmentation is a prerequisite for quantitative phenotyping in volumetric microscopy
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's newly released Zenodo deposit (10.5281/zenodo.18517324) containing raw volumes, annotations, training patches, model weights, and segmentation outputs is not among the allowed URLs, so it cannot be listed. The authors' public analysis/segmentation code repository is explicitly deposited with an authors' URLCode · publicThe source code for training and predicting nuclei segmentation using NucVerse 3D is available from https://github.com/Segovia-lab/3D-Nuclei-segmentation.git .Open asset ↗https://github.com/Segovia-lab/3D-Nuclei-segmentation.gitlines:647-728Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 14 Sept 2026
Modern maize stems possess a well-developed vascular bundle system, which is critical for providing mechanical support and lodging resistance. However, characterization of the microanatomical features of vascular bundles and their functional implications in stem mechanics remains challenging, primarily due to technical limitations in high-throughput microanatomical analysis of stem tissues. We thus constructed data sets consisting of over 500,000 maize stem CT images from a maize diversity panel of 383 inbred lines. We evaluated 32 microanatomical phenotypes of maize basal internodes across two environments in different years. By incorporating engineering mechanics parameters, we calculated novel characteristics of the vascular bundles, including the moment of area (MOA) and the polar moment of inertia (PMOI). Through the high-density phenotypic data set, we identified multiple stem microanatomical phenotypes strongly associated with lodging resistance, particularly of vascular bundle mechanical traits. By integrating population genetic profiling, we discovered and confirmed that ZmLSM2 (U6 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein specific Sm-like 2) serves as a key regulator of stem mechanical strength, might function in RNA processing and maturation within vascular stem cells, identifying novel genetic targets for improving maize lodging resistance. This approach demonstrates the value of combining advanced phenotyping with multi-omics analyses for crop improvement. These discoveries will deepen the understanding of plant stem biomechanical principles and provide novel targets for enhancing lodging resistance in crop breeding programs.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsトウモロコシ茎のCT画像から微細構造形質を高スループットに抽出する表現型解析基盤とデータセットが研究の中心であり、単なる生物学的測定ではない。
abstracttechnical limitations in high-throughput microanatomical analysis of stem tissues
Reproduction assets found保存済みの本文根拠を更新済みルールで再検証し、公開資産1件を確認しました。Dataset · publicCT cross‐section images of the third internode from 383 maize inbred lines grown in Beijing and Sanya during two growing seasons can be downloaded via the link: https://pan.baidu.com/s/1CP2kkAmTvy1zi3QJGtKSWQ?pwd=JIPB . Extraction code: JIPB.Open asset ↗lines:204-306Code / dataset availability confirmedOpenAlex · Europe PMC · checked 6 Sept 2026
Plant seeds are one of the most important food sources for humans. As a result, seed morphology and the concentrations of essential and toxic elements in seeds have important implications not only for seed yield and quality, but also for human health. To identify natural variation in the accumulation of various elements in seeds and in seed morphology, high-throughput phenotyping methods are needed. Here, we employed X-ray fluorescence microscopy (μ-XRF) as a method for rapid and high-throughput phenotyping of seed libraries and developed a computer vision-based algorithmic workflow to automatically the extraction of elemental and morphological data from single seeds. This workflow enables rapid segmentation of individual seeds from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) panel with 1163 A. thaliana accessions, and facilitates the extraction of elemental and morphological traits at the individual seed level from the μ-XRF image. A total of 7 and 10 loci, respectively associated with the morphology and elemental concentration of A. thaliana seeds, were identified. The high-throughput and nondestructive method for automated phenotyping of plant seed libraries developed in this study provides a tool for investigating natural genetic variation controlling the seed mineral accumulation and seed morphogenesis.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods種子の元素濃度・形態をμ-XRFとコンピュータビジョンで高速・自動取得する手法を開発しており、植物表現型取得が研究の中心である。
abstracthigh-throughput phenotyping methods are needed
Reproduction assets foundThe authors explicitly state that the u-XRF source code and algorithm (the computer vision workflow used for seed segmentation and trait extraction from μ-XRF images) are distributed under the MIT License and publicly available at their GitHub repository, making it a paper-specific, public, actionable code asset.Code · publicThe source code and algorithm of u-XRF are distributed under the MIT License, which permits academic use, distribution, and reproduction subject to the terms of the license ( https://opensource.org/license/MIT/ ), unless otherwise specified. Supporting source code, Web of Science Global Science Publications data, and additional datasets can be accessed at https://github.com/The-Wang-Lab-NAU/u-XRF/ for download and upload.Open asset ↗The-Wang-Lab-NAU/u-XRFlines:291-309Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · OpenAlex · checked 6 Sept 2026
Understanding the genetic basis of root system architecture (RSA) in crops requires innovative approaches that enable both high-throughput and precise phenotyping in field conditions. In this study, we evaluated multiple phenotyping and analytical frameworks for quantifying RSA in mature, field-grown maize in three field experiments. We used forward and reverse genetic approaches to evaluate >1700 maize root crowns, including a diversity panel, a biparental mapping population, and maize mutant and wild-type alleles at two known RSA genes, DEEPER ROOTING 1 (DRO1) and Rootless1 (Rt1). We show the utility of increasing the dimensionality of traditional two-dimensional (2D) techniques, referred to as the "2D multi-view" method, to improve the capture of whole root system information for mapping genetic variation influencing RSA. Comparison of univariate and multivariate genome-wide association study (GWAS) approaches revealed that multivariate traits were effective at dissecting complex RSA phenotypes and identifying pleiotropic quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Overall, three-dimensional (3D) root models generated from X-ray computed tomography and digital phenotyping captured a larger proportion of RSA trait variations compared to other methods of root phenotyping, as evidenced by both genome-wide and single-gene analyses. Among the individual root traits, root pulling force emerged as a highly heritable estimate of RSA that identified the largest number of shared QTLs with 3D phenotypes. Our study shows that integrating complementary phenotyping technologies helps to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the genetic architecture of RSA in field-grown maize.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods根系構造を定量化する複数の表現型解析法を比較・評価し、2Dマルチビュー、X線CT、デジタル表現型などの技術性能を遺伝解析で検証しており、表現型取得法が研究の中心である。
abstractwe evaluated multiple phenotyping and analytical frameworks for quantifying RSA in mature, field-grown maize
Reproduction assets foundThe paper deposits raw phenotypic metadata (root crown/RSA measurements from the field experiments) on Dryad, and uses the authors' public 3D root crown analysis pipeline (RCAP) on GitHub for the XRT feature extraction. Both are paper-specific, public, and actionable. Generic R packages and cited prior work are not.Dataset · publicRaw phenotypic metadata are available on the Dryad Digital Repository ( https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.z34tmpgq4 , http://datadryad.org/share/HeNYoxNMdN_GrHMyZHFN3rUTN1UiG8OFhU-B107E7mM ).Open asset ↗Dryad Digital Repository · 10.5061/dryad.z34tmpgq4lines:499-731Code · publicreferred to here as the root crown analysis pipeline (RCAP). Detailed descriptions of RCAP trait implementations and related resources are available at: https://github.com/Topp‐Roots‐Lab/3d‐root‐crown‐analysis‐pipeline/ .Open asset ↗GitHub · Topp‐Roots‐Lab/3d‐root‐crown‐analysis‐pipelinelines:162-175Code / dataset availability confirmedCrossref · Europe PMC · checked 15 Sept 2026
Abstract Correlative imaging is a powerful tool for revealing information on cell-type structures and their biochemistry, with the potential to inform healthier food choices and improved dietary recommendations. Determination of plant structures and their structural biochemistry advances our understanding of specific structures designed to store different biomolecules within cells and tissues. Compared to the classical biochemical separation techniques, the key advantage of sequential correlative imaging techniques is in relating spatial plant (micro)structures to their biochemistry in a nondestructive manner. Sequential imaging reported here comprises six methodologies on a single sample, a cross-section of a Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) grain, namely, bright-field and autofluorescence microscopy, fluorescence microspectroscopy, MeV-secondary ion mass spectrometry, micro-particle-induced X-ray emission, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Results confirm that the stepwise addition of the desired information across several classes of biomolecules and several spatial scales informs the quality and safety of plant-based produce across scales. Therefore, a viable workflow is proposed, enabling sequential spatial analysis of grain and highlighting plant structures' in situ specificity. The advantages and disadvantages of the selected methodologies were critically evaluated.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods植物粒の構造とその化学的特徴を複数の相関イメージング法で取得する再利用可能なワークフローを提案し、各手法の長短も評価しているため、表現型取得法が中心である。
abstractTherefore, a viable workflow is proposed, enabling sequential spatial analysis of grain and highlighting plant structures' in situ specificity.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper explicitly points to a public Zenodo deposit containing the correlative imaging data (SEM, micro-PIXE, MeV-SIMS maps) used in its analyses, with instructions for reproducing image fusion in Wolfram Mathematica or ImageJ.Dataset · publicsed to reveal the allocation of K
to cotyledons (Supplementary Fused Image 1). Similarly, on
the same SEM image, MeV-SIMS distribution maps under the
selected peak were overlaid (Supplementary Fused Image 2).
Custom combinations can be done in the Wolfram
Mathematica program or in ImageJ (Merge Channels) using
data available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14628251, fol
lowing the instructions in the Materials and Methods.
Conclusions
The low emission properties of fluorescence biomolecules,
when excited with 405 nm light, inherently limit the informa
tion acquired using fluorescence imaging. At this excitation
wavelength, catechin may be the primary fluorophore in
Tartary buckwheat cotOpen asset ↗zenodo · 10.5281/zenodo.14628251pdf-raw-page:13 lines:1-89Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 6 Sept 2026
Laboratory / benchtopX-ray / CTRootMorphology / geometry measurementRoot system architecture
Soil compaction and escalating global drought increase soil strength and stiffness. It remains unclear which plant root biomechanical mechanisms/traits enable growth in these harsh conditions. Here, we combine synchrotron X-ray computed tomography with spatially resolved X-ray diffraction to characterize the biomechanics of a replica root-soil system. We map the strain field around the root tip analog, finding strong agreement with finite element simulations, thereby demonstrating a promising new in vivo measurement protocol.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods根の生育に関わる土壌内の力学的状態・ひずみを、X線CTと回折で可視化・定量する新しいin vivo測定プロトコルを開発・検証しており、植物表現型取得法が中心です。
abstractWe map the strain field around the root tip analog, finding strong agreement with finite element simulations, thereby demonstrating a promising new in vivo measurement protocol.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's Data availability and Code availability statements both deposit the study's XCT/XRD imaging and diffraction data and the processing scripts in the University of Southampton Pure repository (DOI 10.5258/SOTON/D3309), which is an allowed URL. These are paper-specific, publicly declared assets directly reproduCode · publicAll scripts used to process the data can be found in the Pure repository: https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D3309 .Open asset ↗Pure · 10.5258/SOTON/D3309lines:209-251Code / dataset availability confirmedOpenAlex · Europe PMC · checked 6 Sept 2026
3D phenotyping of the external and internal structures is important to breed new fruit species. As manual phenotyping is error-prone and time-consuming, developing high-throughput solutions with enhanced precision and low costs is necessary. This study presents CitrusGAN, a generative adversarial network-based method to reconstruct 3D citrus CT models from sparse-view X-ray images. The input X-rays are arranged in orthogonal pairs to provide additional information, and customized loss functions enable more effective learning of the mapping from 2D X-ray features to 3D CT volumes. Experimental results show that 6 views can generate high-quality citrus CT volumes, with a structural similarity index of 92.1 % and a peak signal-to-noise ratio of 26.374 dB compared with the real CT models. Moreover, the morphology of the generated model can be conveniently measured in the 3D space, facilitating the extraction of phenotypic traits including fruit length, width, height, volume, surface area, peel thickness, number of segments, and edible rate with high precision. As X-rays can be obtained using low-cost X-ray machines with high efficiency, the proposed method can be potentially developed into high-throughput equipment for fruit production lines or portable devices to realize in-field phenotyping.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods柑橘の疎視野X線から3D CTモデルを再構成し、形態形質を抽出する手法を開発・検証しており、植物フェノタイピング手法が研究の中心である。
abstractThis study presents CitrusGAN, a generative adversarial network-based method to reconstruct 3D citrus CT models from sparse-view X-ray images.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's Data availability statement explicitly states that the code and datasets (the citrus X-ray/CT phenotyping dataset and CitrusGAN analysis code) are publicly available at the authors' GitHub repository.Code · publicData availability
The code and datasets are available at https://github.com/Petrichoror/CitrusGAN . Other data will be made available on request.Open asset ↗Petrichoror/CitrusGANlines:244-347Code / dataset availability confirmedCrossref · Europe PMC · checked 15 Sept 2026
The integration of nanotechnology in agriculture allows for more precise nutrient delivery through nanoparticles (NPs), particularly via foliar application. To mature this technology for enhancing fertilizer efficiency, it is essential to shed new light on the transport and dissolution of NPs in plants. Available analytical methods struggle to address this challenge in a direct manner. We introduce correlative X-ray imaging as a novel analytical tool capable of tracking NP pathways, dissolution and hence nutrient release in plants. By utilizing three complementary X-ray techniques, we offer a unique insight into the plant processes associated with foliar fertilization. We demonstrate that small-angle X-ray scattering enables the characterization of NP size and concentration, while X-ray fluorescence imaging, maps the distribution of elements within the sample. Finally, micro-computed tomography integrates these findings into a complete three-dimensional digital representation of the plant’s microstructure, revealing regions of apparent densification associated with NP accumulation. Using freeze-dried barley plants infiltrated with nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAP), we observed rapid dissolution of NPs, and we are able to associate time and space attributes to the translocation process of nutrients up to three days following foliar application of NPs. With the first pilot study of applying correlative X-ray imaging to live plants, we sought to indicate the potential of this new analytical approach for future nano-enabled agricultural research.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods植物内のナノ粒子経路・溶解・栄養輸送を可視化する相関X線イメージング手法の導入と実証が中心であり、植物の状態・生理過程を測定する方法論的研究である。
abstractWe introduce correlative X-ray imaging as a novel analytical tool capable of tracking NP pathways, dissolution and hence nutrient release in plants.
Reproduction assets foundThe article's data availability statement points to a public figshare repository hosting the study's datasets (X-ray imaging/phenotyping measurements). No author analysis code with explicit public deposit language was identified; Dragonfly is a commercial visualization tool, not a paper-specific asset.Dataset · publicng Wan , Hainan University, China
Zhansheng Li , Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
Firozeh Solimani , Politecnico di Bari, Italy
Data availability statement
The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found below: https://figshare.com/s/33ee8388a36600fe98d5 .
Author contributionsOpen asset ↗figsharelines:191-206Code / dataset availability confirmedCrossref · Europe PMC · checked 6 Sept 2026
Identification of the phenotypes of fruits is critical for understanding complex genetic traits. Computed tomography (CT) imaging technology enables the noninvasive acquisition of three-dimensional images of fruit interiors, thus providing a robust data foundation for phenotypic analysis. Accurate segmentation of internal fruit tissues is essential, as it directly influences the accuracy and reliability of the results. Current methods are not optimized for the unique features of plant fruit images. This study introduces XFruitSeg, which is a general deep learning model for segmenting plant fruit CT images. The model uses a U-shaped encoder-decoder architecture and integrates multitask learning. A large convolutional kernel network, RepLKNet, expands the receptive field for feature extraction. Multiscale skip connections and a deep supervision mechanism improve the model's capacity to learn features of various sizes, and a contour feature learning branch specifically targets the interorganizational boundaries. An optimized composite loss function enhances the model's robustness when applied to imbalanced categories. Additionally, a dataset named XrayFruitData was established, which contains high-resolution images of twelve plant fruit varieties, with accurate annotations for orange, mangosteen, and durian fruits for model evaluation. Compared with four mainstream advanced models, XFruitSeg achieved superior segmentation performance on the orange, mangosteen, and durian datasets, with mean Dice coefficients of 95.21 %, 93.24 %, and 94.70 % and mean intersection over union (mIoU) scores of 91.09 %, 87.91 %, and 90.35 %, respectively. The results of extensive ablation experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of each component. Therefore, the proposed XFruitSeg model has been proven to be beneficial for high-precision analysis of internal fruit phenotyping traits.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods果実CT画像から内部組織を分割し、表現型解析を可能にする深層学習モデルと評価用データセットを開発・検証しており、植物フェノタイピング手法が中心である。
abstractThis study introduces XFruitSeg, which is a general deep learning model for segmenting plant fruit CT images.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's CT fruit segmentation dataset (XrayFruitData), model weights, and source code are publicly available on the authors' GitHub repository, explicitly stated in the Data availability section and dataset description.Code · publicSome of the raw data, model weights and source codes are accessible at https://github.com/BME-PhenoTeam/Xray4Plant-FruitOpen asset ↗BME-PhenoTeam/Xray4Plant-Fruitlines:530-585Code / dataset availability confirmedbioRxiv · Europe PMC · checked 15 Sept 2026
Field / plotLaboratory / benchtopX-ray / CTRootWhole plant / canopy / plot / field
Soil compaction and escalating global drought increase soil strength and stiffness. It remains unclear which plant root biomechanical mechanisms/traits enable growth in these harsh conditions. Here, we combine synchrotron X-ray computed tomography with spatially resolved X-ray diffraction to characterize the biomechanics of a replica root-soil system. We map the strain field around the root tip, finding strong agreement with finite element simulations, thereby demonstrating a promising new in-vivo measurement protocol.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods根周辺のひずみ場という根の力学的形質を、X線CT・回折と有限要素解析で測定・検証する新規プロトコルが研究の中心である。
abstractWe map the strain field around the root tip, finding strong agreement with finite element simulations, thereby demonstrating a promising new in-vivo measurement protocol.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper deposits its X-ray diffraction and X-ray imaging (XCT) measurements in the Southampton Pure repository (DOI 10.5258/SOTON/D3309.274) and its processing scripts in a companion deposit (DOI 10.5258/SOTON/D3309.276), both with explicit availability statements and public URLs.Dataset · public∇uT ), F(σ′) > 0,x ∈ Ω
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: (∇u+∇uT ), F(σ′) = 0,x ∈ Ω
u·ê1 = 0, x ∈ ΓAxis
u = 0, x ∈ ΓC,Top
u = [0,wstep]T , x ∈ Γbot ∪Γout
n̂·∇u = 0, x ∈ Γtop ∪ΓC,tip
n̂·σ = ppen, x ∈ (Γtop ∩Ω∩Ωc)∪(ΓC,tip ∩Ω∩Ωc)
. (29)
Data Records
273
All X-ray diffraction and X-ray imaging data used in this study can be found in the Pure repository: https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D3309.274
Code availability
275
All scripts used to process the data can be found in the Pure repository: https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D3309.276
References
277
1. Lee, H. et al. Ipcc, 2023: Climate change 2023: Synthesis report, summary for policymakers. contribution of working
278
groups i, ii and iii to the sixth assessment report ofOpen asset ↗Pure repository · 10.5258/SOTON/D3309.274pdf-raw-page:9 lines:1-96Code · publicu = 0, x ∈ Γtop ∪ΓC,tip
n̂·σ = ppen, x ∈ (Γtop ∩Ω∩Ωc)∪(ΓC,tip ∩Ω∩Ωc)
. (29)
Data Records
273
All X-ray diffraction and X-ray imaging data used in this study can be found in the Pure repository: https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D3309.274
Code availability
275
All scripts used to process the data can be found in the Pure repository: https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/D3309.276
References
277
1. Lee, H. et al. Ipcc, 2023: Climate change 2023: Synthesis report, summary for policymakers. contribution of working
278
groups i, ii and iii to the sixth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change [core writing team, h.
279
lee and j. romero (eds.)]. ipcc, geneva, switzerland. (2023).
2Open asset ↗Pure repository · 10.5258/SOTON/D3309.276pdf-raw-page:9 lines:1-96Code / dataset availability confirmedCrossref · Europe PMC · checked 6 Sept 2026
SoybeanX-ray / CTRootMorphology / geometry measurementRoot system architecture
Typically, root system architecture (RSA) is not visible, and realistically, high-throughput methods for RSA trait phenotyping should capture key features of developing root systems in solid substrates in 3D. In a published 2-D study using thin rhizoboxes, vermiculite as a growing medium, and photography for imaging, triplicates of 137 soybean cultivars were phenotyped for their RSA. In the transition to 3-D work using X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning and mineral soil, two research questions are addressed: (1) how different is the soybean RSA characterization between the two phenotyping systems; and (2) is a direct comparison of the results reliable? Prior to a full-scale study in 3D, we grew, in pots filled with sand, triplicates of the Casino and OAC Woodstock cultivars that had shown the most contrasting RSAs in the 2-D study, and CT scanned them at the V1 vegetative stage of development of the shoots. Differences between soybean cultivars in RSA traits, such as total root length and fractal dimension (FD), observed in 2D, can change in 3D. In particular, in 2D, the mean FD values are 1.48 ± 0.16 (OAC Woodstock) vs. 1.31 ± 0.16 (Casino), whereas in 3D, they are 1.52 ± 0.14 (OAC Woodstock) vs. 1.24 ± 0.13 (Casino), indicating variations in RSA complexity.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods2D写真法と3D X線CT法という根系表現型計測システムを比較・評価し、RSA形質の測定結果の信頼性を検討しているため、フェノタイピング手法が中心である。
abstracthigh-throughput methods for RSA trait phenotyping should capture key features of developing root systems in solid substrates in 3D
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's own supplement (MDPI S1) contains two videos produced in MATLAB from skeletal 3-D images of the root systems reconstructed from this study's CT scanning data — paper-specific phenotyping outputs made publicly available. The figshare links are explicitly described as 'soybean genomic data' from the prior GWASupplement · publicTwo videos (.AVI files), one per soybean cultivar, were produced in MATLAB (MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA) from skeletal 3-D images of the root systems, and are made available as a supplement to the graphical results presented for the 3-D phenotyping system in Figure 2 in the manuscript.Open asset ↗lines:100-116Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · Crossref · checked 15 Sept 2026
To study plant organs, it is necessary to investigate the three-dimensional (3D) structures of plants. In recent years, non-destructive measurements through computed tomography (CT) have been used to understand the 3D structures of plants. In this study, we use the Chrysanthemum seticuspe capitulum inflorescence as an example and focus on contact points between the receptacles and florets within the 3D capitulum inflorescence bud structure to investigate the 3D arrangement of the florets on the receptacle. To determine the 3D order of the contact points, we constructed slice images from the CT volume data and detected the receptacles and florets in the image. However, because each CT sample comprises hundreds of slice images to be processed and each C. seticuspe capitulum inflorescence comprises several florets, manually detecting the receptacles and florets is labor-intensive. Therefore, we propose an automatic contact point detection method based on CT slice images using image recognition techniques. The proposed method improves the accuracy of contact point detection using prior knowledge that contact points exist only around the receptacle. In addition, the integration of the detection results enables the estimation of the 3D position of the contact points. According to the experimental results, we confirmed that the proposed method can detect contacts on slice images with high accuracy and estimate their 3D positions through clustering. Additionally, the sample-independent experiments showed that the proposed method achieved the same detection accuracy as sample-dependent experiments.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsCT画像から花序内の小花と花托の接触点を自動検出し、3D位置を推定する手法の開発・精度評価が研究の中心であるため、植物フェノタイピング手法に該当する。
abstractTherefore, we propose an automatic contact point detection method based on CT slice images using image recognition techniques.
Reproduction assets foundThe authors publicly deposited the labeled CT slice-image dataset (contact point annotations and receptacle segmentation labels) on Figshare, and a 3D visualization video of the contact point estimation results is available on YouTube. Raw CT volumes are only available on request. No author analysis code repository is.Dataset · publicre task is to automate the clustering parameters, which are currently determined manually. We also plan to develop a mathematical model of the position of the contact point between the receptacle and florets based on the estimation results.
Data availability statement
The labeled data for this study can be found in the Figshare https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.25388434 . The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.
Author contributionsOpen asset ↗Figshare · 10.6084/m9.figshare.25388434lines:513-540Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 7 Sept 2026
Manual segmentation of the petals of flower computed tomography (CT) images is time-consuming and labor-intensive because the flower has many petals. In this study, we aim to obtain a three-dimensional (3D) structure of Camellia japonica flowers and propose a petal segmentation method using computer vision techniques. Petal segmentation on the slice images fails by simply applying the segmentation methods because the shape of the petals in CT images differs from that of the objects targeted by the latest instance segmentation methods. To overcome these challenges, we crop two-dimensional (2D) long rectangles from each slice image and apply the segmentation method to segment the petals on the images. Thanks to cropping, it is easier to segment the shape of the petals in the cropped images using the segmentation methods. We can also use the latest segmentation method for the task because the number of images used for training is augmented by cropping. Subsequently, the results are integrated into 3D to obtain 3D segmentation volume data. The experimental results show that the proposed method can segment petals on slice images with higher accuracy than the method without cropping. The 3D segmentation results were also obtained and visualized successfully.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods花弁のCT画像から3D構造を抽出する画像セグメンテーション手法の開発と精度比較が中心であり、植物形態フェノタイピングに該当する。
abstractThe experimental results show that the proposed method can segment petals on slice images with higher accuracy than the method without cropping.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's CT volume data of Camellia japonica flowers (with ground-truth annotations) is publicly deposited on Figshare, and the authors' segmentation/integration code is publicly available on GitHub, both with explicit availability statements.Dataset · publicThe datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found below: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.25264774.v1Open asset ↗figshare · 10.6084/m9.figshare.25264774.v1lines:447-494Code · publicThe code implementing the proposed method is available at https://github.com/yu-NK/petal_ct_crop_seg.gitOpen asset ↗github · yu-NK/petal_ct_crop_seglines:447-494Code / dataset availability confirmedCrossref · Europe PMC · checked 7 Sept 2026
RiceMesh / voxelX-ray / CTRootObject detectionSegmentationRoot system architecture
Abstract Background X-ray computed tomography (CT) is a powerful tool for measuring plant root growth in soil. However, a rapid scan with larger pots, which is required for throughput-prioritized crop breeding, results in high noise levels, low resolution, and blurred root segments in the CT volumes. Moreover, while plant root segmentation is essential for root quantification, detailed conditional studies on segmenting noisy root segments are scarce. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of scanning time and deep learning-based restoration of image quality on semantic segmentation of blurry rice ( Oryza sativa ) root segments in CT volumes. Results VoxResNet, a convolutional neural network-based voxel-wise residual network, was used as the segmentation model. The training efficiency of the model was compared using CT volumes obtained at scan times of 33, 66, 150, 300, and 600 s. The learning efficiencies of the samples were similar, except for scan times of 33 and 66 s. In addition, The noise levels of predicted volumes differd among scanning conditions, indicating that the noise level of a scan time ≥ 150 s does not affect the model training efficiency. Conventional filtering methods, such as median filtering and edge detection, increased the training efficiency by approximately 10% under any conditions. However, the training efficiency of 33 and 66 s-scanned samples remained relatively low. We concluded that scan time must be at least 150 s to not affect segmentation. Finally, we constructed a semantic segmentation model for 150 s-scanned CT volumes, for which the Dice loss reached 0.093. This model could not predict the lateral roots, which were not included in the training data. This limitation will be addressed by preparing appropriate training data. Conclusions A semantic segmentation model can be constructed even with rapidly scanned CT volumes with high noise levels. Given that scanning times ≥ 150 s did not affect the segmentation results, this technique holds promise for rapid and low-dose scanning. This study offers insights into images other than CT volumes with high noise levels that are challenging to determine when annotating.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods植物根のCT画像から根をセグメンテーションし、根成長の定量化に用いる手法の開発・技術評価が中心であるため、植物フェノタイピング方法論に該当する。
abstractX-ray computed tomography (CT) is a powerful tool for measuring plant root growth in soil.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's own training/prediction scripts for the 3D semantic segmentation model (SStrainer3D) are publicly available on GitHub with explicit availability language. The CT volume datasets are only available upon request. RSAvis3D and RSAtrace3D are cited prior-work tools, not paper-specific assets.Code · publicThe scripts for the training and prediction of the 3D semantic segmentation are available at the GitHub repository ( https://github.com/st707311g/SStrainer3D/ , branch 1.0).Open asset ↗st707311g/SStrainer3Dlines:156-186Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 7 Sept 2026
RadishRiceX-ray / CTRoot2D/3D reconstructionGrowth / time-series analysisRoot system architecture
Crop genetic engineering for better root systems can offer practical solutions for food security and carbon sequestration; however, soil layers prevent the direct visualization of plant roots, thus posing a challenge to effective phenotyping. Here, we demonstrate an original device with a distributed fiber-optic sensor for fully automated, real-time monitoring of underground root development. We show that spatially encoding an optical fiber with a flexible and durable polymer film in a spiral pattern can significantly enhance sensor detection. After signal processing, the resulting device can detect the penetration of a submillimeter-diameter object in the soil, indicating more than a magnitude higher spatiotemporal resolution than previously reported with underground monitoring techniques. Additionally, we also developed computational models to visualize the roots of tuber crops and monocotyledons and then applied them to radish and rice to compare the results with those of X-ray computed tomography. The device's groundbreaking sensitivity and spatiotemporal resolution enable seamless and laborless phenotyping of root systems that are otherwise invisible underground.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods地下根系の発達を対象に、分布型光ファイバーセンサー、信号処理、根の可視化モデルを開発し、X線CTとの比較検証まで行う、植物フェノタイピング手法が中心の研究です。
abstractwe demonstrate an original device with a distributed fiber-optic sensor for fully automated, real-time monitoring of underground root development
Reproduction assets foundThe authors publicly provide MATLAB code for virtual root reconstruction and the sample datasets used in the study via their GitHub repository Fiber-RADGET, with explicit availability statements in the Methods and Data availability sections.Code · publicThe custom code for the virtual root reconstruction in MATLAB (MathWorks, Massachusetts, USA) is available at https://github.com/mtei1/Fiber-RADGET.git .Open asset ↗mtei1/Fiber-RADGETlines:126-223Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 8 Sept 2026
Premise Most studies of the movement of orchid fruits and roots during plant development have focused on morphological observations; however, further genetic analysis is required to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. A precise tool is required to observe these movements and harvest tissue at the correct position and time for transcriptomics research. Methods We utilized three-dimensional (3D) micro-computed tomography (CT) scans to capture the movement of fast-growing Erycina pusilla roots, and built an integrated bioinformatics pipeline to process 3D images into 3D time-lapse videos. To record the movement of slowly developing E. pusilla and Phalaenopsis equestris fruits, two-dimensional (2D) photographs were used. Results The E. pusilla roots twisted and resupinated multiple times from early development. The first period occurred in the early developmental stage (77-84 days after germination [DAG]) and the subsequent period occurred later in development (140-154 DAG). While E. pusilla fruits twisted 45° from 56-63 days after pollination (DAP), the fruits of P. equestris only began to resupinate a week before dehiscence (133 DAP) and ended a week after dehiscence (161 DAP). Discussion Our methods revealed that each orchid root and fruit had an independent direction and degree of torsion from the initial to the final position. Our innovative approaches produced detailed spatial and temporal information on the resupination of roots and fruits during orchid development.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods3DマイクロCT、2D画像、画像処理パイプラインを用いてランの根・果実のねじれ運動を時空間的に抽出する手法が研究の中心であり、植物形態表現型の取得に該当する。
abstractWe utilized three-dimensional (3D) micro-computed tomography (CT) scans to capture the movement of fast-growing Erycina pusilla roots, and built an integrated bioinformatics pipeline to process 3D images into 3D time-lapse videos.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's authors publicly released their custom 3D time-lapse pipeline code on GitHub and the micro-CT reconstruction data (young and mature E. pusilla plants) on Figshare, both explicitly cited in the Data Availability Statement.Code · publicThe scripts of the newly built 3D time‐lapse pipeline are available from GitHub ( https://github.com/LMVaskimo/3D-Lapse-Pipeline ).Open asset ↗LMVaskimo/3D-Lapse-Pipelinelines:238-443Code / dataset availability confirmedOpenAlex · Europe PMC · checked 7 Sept 2026
BACKGROUND: Spike is the grain-bearing organ in cereal crops, which is a key proxy indicator determining the grain yield and quality. Machine learning methods for image analysis of spike-related phenotypic traits not only hold the promise for high-throughput estimating grain production and quality, but also lay the foundation for better dissection of the genetic basis for spike development. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the most important crops globally, ranking as the fourth largest cereal crop in terms of cultivated area and total yield. However, image analysis of spike-related traits in barley, especially based on CT-scanning, remains elusive at present. RESULTS: In this study, we developed a non-invasive, high-throughput approach to quantitatively measuring the multitude of spike architectural traits in barley through combining X-ray computed tomography (CT) and a deep learning model (UNet). Firstly, the spikes of 11 barley accessions, including 2 wild barley, 3 landraces and 6 cultivars were used for X-ray CT scanning to obtain the tomographic images. And then, an optimized 3D image processing method was used to point cloud data to generate the 3D point cloud images of spike, namely 'virtual' spike, which is then used to investigate internal structures and morphological traits of barley spikes. Furthermore, the virtual spike-related traits, such as spike length, grain number per spike, grain volume, grain surface area, grain length and grain width as well as grain thickness were efficiently and non-destructively quantified. The virtual values of these traits were highly consistent with the actual value using manual measurement, demonstrating the accuracy and reliability of the developed model. The reconstruction process took 15 min approximately, 10 min for CT scanning and 5 min for imaging and features extraction, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides an efficient, non-invasive and useful tool for dissecting barley spike architecture, which will contribute to high-throughput phenotyping and breeding for high yield in barley and other crops.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsX線CT、深層学習、3D画像処理を組み合わせ、オオムギ穂の形態・構造形質を定量化する高スループット表現型計測法を開発し、手動測定で検証しているため。
abstractwe developed a non-invasive, high-throughput approach to quantitatively measuring the multitude of spike architectural traits in barley through combining X-ray computed tomography (CT) and a deep learning model (UNet).
Reproduction assets foundThe authors explicitly state that all code and datasets for deep learning segmentation, prediction, and barley spike trait extraction are open-sourced on GitHub at the authors' repository, which is an allowed URL.Code · publicAll code and datasets pertaining to deep learning segmentation training, predicting and barley spike traits extraction is open-sourced on Github at https://github.com/zerosky010/CT_barley_spike_detection .Open asset ↗zerosky010/CT_barley_spike_detectionlines:160-268Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · bioRxiv · checked 7 Sept 2026
RadishRiceX-ray / CTRootObject detection2D/3D reconstructionGrowth / time-series analysisVisualization / data managementRoot system architecture
Crop genetic engineering for better root systems can offer practical solutions for food security and carbon sequestration; however, soil layers prevent direct visualization. Here, we demonstrate an original device with a distributed fiber-optic sensor for fully automated, real-time monitoring of underground root development. We demonstrate that spatially encoding an optical fiber with a flexible and durable polymer film in a spiral pattern can significantly enhance sensor detection. After signal processing, the resulting device can detect the penetration of a submillimeter-diameter object in the soil, indicating more than a magnitude higher spatiotemporal resolution than previously reported with underground monitoring techniques. We also developed computational models to visualize the roots of root crops and monocotyledons, and then applied them to radish and rice to compare the results with those of X-ray computed tomography. The device’s groundbreaking sensitivity and spatiotemporal resolution enable seamless and laborless phenotyping of root systems that are otherwise invisible underground.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods地下根系を対象とする分布型光ファイバーセンサーと計算モデルを開発し、根系フェノタイピングへの適用・比較検証まで行うことが中心であるため。
abstractwe demonstrate an original device with a distributed fiber-optic sensor for fully automated, real-time monitoring of underground root development
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's custom MATLAB code for virtual root reconstruction from fiber-optic strain data is explicitly stated to be publicly available on the authors' GitHub repository (Fiber-RADGET). No separate public phenotype dataset deposit is mentioned; the supplementary movie is not a qualifying dataset URL.Code · publicThe
custom code for the virtual root reconstruction in MATLAB
(MathWorks, Massachusetts, USA) is available at
https://github.com/mtei1/Fiber-RADGET.git.Open asset ↗mtei1/Fiber-RADGETpdf-page:12 lines:1-24Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 7 Sept 2026
Background: The cereal spike is the main harvested plant organ determining the grain yield and quality, and its dissection provides the basis to estimate yield- and quality-related traits, such as grain number per spike and kernel weight. Phenotypic detection of spike architecture has potential for genetic improvement of yield and quality. However, manual collection and analysis of phenotypic data is laborious, time-consuming, low-throughput and destructive. Results We used a barley model to develop a non-invasive, high-throughput approach through combining X-ray computed tomography (CT) and deep learning model (UNet) to phenotype spike architectural traits. We used an optimized 3D image processing methods by point cloud for analyzing internal structure and quantifying morphological traits of barley spikes. The volume and surface area of grains per spike can be determined efficiently, which is hard to be measured manually. The UNet model was trained based on two types of spikes (wheat cultivar D3 and two-row barley variety S17350), and the best model accurately predicted grain characteristics from CT images. The spikes of ten barley varieties were analyzed and classified into three categories, namely wild barley, barley cultivars and barley landraces. The results showed that modern cultivated barley has shorter but thicker grains with larger volume and higher yield compared to wild barley. The X-ray CT reconstruction and phenotype extraction pipeline needed only 5 minutes per spike for imaging and traits extracting. Conclusions The combination of X-ray CT scans and a deep learning model could be a useful tool in breeding for high yield in cereal crops, and optimized 3D image processing methods could be valuable means of phenotypic traits calculation.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsX線CT、深層学習、3D画像処理を組み合わせ、オオムギ穂の内部形態・粒形質を非破壊かつ高スループットに抽出する手法を開発しており、フェノタイピング手法が研究の中心である。
abstractWe used a barley model to develop a non-invasive, high-throughput approach through combining X-ray computed tomography (CT) and deep learning model (UNet) to phenotype spike architectural traits.
Reproduction assets foundThe authors explicitly state that all code and datasets for deep learning segmentation, prediction, and barley spike trait extraction are open-sourced on GitHub at the allowed URL.Code · publicAvailability of data and materials: All code and datasets pertaining to deep learning segmentation training, predicting and barley spike traits extraction is open-sourced on Github at https://github.com/zerosky010/CT_detection_barley_spike_python.Open asset ↗zerosky010/CT_detection_barley_spike_pythonlines:99-131Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · OpenAlex · Crossref · checked 14 Sept 2026
Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important crops as it provides 20% of calories and proteins to the human population. To overcome the increasing demand in wheat grain production, there is a need for a higher grain yield, and this can be achieved in particular through an increase in the grain weight. Moreover, grain shape is an important trait regarding the milling performance. Both the final grain weight and shape would benefit from a comprehensive knowledge of the morphological and anatomical determinism of wheat grain growth. Synchrotron-based phase-contrast X-ray microtomography (X-ray µCT) was used to study the 3D anatomy of the growing wheat grain during the first developmental stages. Coupled with 3D reconstruction, this method revealed changes in the grain shape and new cellular features. The study focused on a particular tissue, the pericarp, which has been hypothesized to be involved in the control of grain development. We showed considerable spatio-temporal diversity in cell shape and orientations, and in tissue porosity associated with stomata detection. These results highlight the growth-related features rarely studied in cereal grains, which may contribute significantly to the final grain weight and shape.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsシンクロトロンX線マイクロCTと3D再構成を中核に、発達中コムギ粒の3D形状・細胞形態・組織空隙を抽出しており、植物器官の形態表現型取得が中心である。
abstractSynchrotron-based phase-contrast X-ray microtomography (X-ray µCT) was used to study the 3D anatomy of the growing wheat grain during the first developmental stages.
Reproduction assets found保存済みの本文根拠を更新済みルールで再検証し、公開資産1件を確認しました。Code · publicThe development was integrated into the Imago software, which is
freely available at https://github.com/SciCompJ/Imago (accessed on 21 February 2023).Open asset ↗SciCompJ/Imagopdf-page:23 lines:1-59Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 7 Sept 2026
Leaves grown at different light intensities exhibit considerable differences in physiology, morphology and anatomy. Because plant leaves develop over three dimensions, analyses of the leaf structure should account for differences in lengths, surfaces, as well as volumes. In this manuscript, we set out to disentangle the mesophyll surface area available for diffusion per leaf area ( S m,LA ) into underlying one-, two- and three-dimensional components. This allowed us to estimate the contribution of each component to S m,LA , a whole-leaf trait known to link structure and function. We introduce the novel concept of a 'stomatal vaporshed,' i.e. the intercellular airspace unit most closely connected to a single stoma, and use it to describe the stomata-to-diffusive-surface pathway. To illustrate our new theoretical framework, we grew two cultivars of Vitis vinifera L. under high and low light, imaged 3D leaf anatomy using microcomputed tomography (microCT) and measured leaf gas exchange. Leaves grown under high light were less porous and thicker. Our analysis showed that these two traits and the lower S m per mesophyll cell volume ( S m,Vcl ) in sun leaves could almost completely explain the difference in S m,LA . Further, the studied cultivars exhibited different responses in carbon assimilation per photosynthesizing cell volume ( A Vcl ). While Cabernet Sauvignon maintained A Vcl constant between sun and shade leaves, it was lower in Blaufränkisch sun leaves. This difference may be related to genotype-specific strategies in building the stomata-to-diffusive-surface pathway.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods3D葉解剖をmicroCTで画像化し、葉の拡散面積関連形質を分解・推定する新しい理論枠組みを提示しており、表現型取得・解析法が研究の中心である。
abstractwe set out to disentangle the mesophyll surface area available for diffusion per leaf area ( S m,LA ) into underlying one-, two- and three-dimensional components.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's Data Availability statement explicitly deposits all raw and segmented microCT imaging data plus extracted trait data on Zenodo, and the vaporshed-extraction analysis code in the public leaf-traits-microct GitHub repository. Both are paper-specific, public, and actionable.Dataset · publicAll imaging data (raw microCT scans and segmented scans) and data extracted from those images are available on Zenodo ( https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5994663 ).Open asset ↗Zenodo · 10.5281/zenodo.5994663lines:219-265Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 8 Sept 2026
RiceLaboratory / benchtopX-ray / CTRootImage / point-cloud registrationGrowth / time-series analysisTrackingGrowth / development / phenologyRoot system architecture
Background Root system architecture (RSA) is an essential characteristic for efficient water and nutrient absorption in terrestrial plants; its plasticity enables plants to respond to different soil environments. Better understanding of root plasticity is important in developing stress-tolerant crops. Non-invasive techniques that can measure roots in soils nondestructively, such as X-ray computed tomography (CT), are useful to evaluate RSA plasticity. However, although RSA plasticity can be measured by tracking individual root growth, only a few methods are available for tracking individual roots from time-series three-dimensional (3D) images. Results We developed a semi-automatic workflow that tracks individual root growth by vectorizing RSA from time-series 3D images via two major steps. The first step involves 3D alignment of the time-series RSA images by iterative closest point registration with point clouds generated by high-intensity particles in potted soils. This alignment ensures that the time-series RSA images overlap. The second step consists of backward prediction of vectorization, which is based on the phenomenon that the root length of the RSA vector at the earlier time point is shorter than that at the last time point. In other words, when CT scanning is performed at time point A and again at time point B for the same pot, the CT data and RSA vectors at time points A and B will almost overlap, but not where the roots have grown. We assumed that given a manually created RSA vector at the last time point of the time series, all RSA vectors except those at the last time point could be automatically predicted by referring to the corresponding RSA images. Using 21 time-series CT volumes of a potted plant of upland rice (Oryza sativa), this workflow revealed that the root elongation speed increased with age. Compared with a workflow that does not use backward prediction, the workflow with backward prediction reduced the manual labor time by 95%. Conclusions We developed a workflow to efficiently generate time-series RSA vectors from time-series X-ray CT volumes. We named this workflow 'RSAtrace4D' and are confident that it can be applied to the time-series analysis of RSA development and plasticity.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods根系形態を時系列X線CT画像から抽出・追跡する半自動ワークフローを開発しており、植物フェノタイピング手法が研究の中心である。
abstractWe developed a semi-automatic workflow that tracks individual root growth by vectorizing RSA from time-series 3D images via two major steps.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's authors publicly released RSAtrace4D, the software implementing the backward-prediction workflow for time-series X-ray CT root system architecture analysis, on GitHub, and state that the datasets used are available via their GitHub account and project homepage.Code · publicThe implementation of this workflow, which is specified for rice, was named RSAtrace4D and is available at the GitHub repository ( https://github.com/st707311g/RSAtrace4D ).Open asset ↗st707311g/RSAtrace4Dlines:116-124Dataset · publicThe datasets used in this study are available at the GitHub repository ( https://github.com/st707311g/ ) and the project homepage ( https://rootomics.dna.affrc.go.jp/en/ ).Open asset ↗st707311glines:136-191Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · Crossref · checked 15 Sept 2026
Flower morphologies shape the accessibility to nectar and pollen, two major traits that determine plant-pollinator interactions and reproductive success. Melon is an economically important crop whose reproduction is completely pollinator-dependent and, as such, is a valuable model for studying crop-ecological functions. High-resolution imaging techniques, such as micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), have recently become popular for phenotyping in plant science. Here, we implemented micro-CT to study floral morphology and honey bees in the context of nectar-related traits without a sample preparation to improve the phenotyping precision and quality. We generated high-quality 3D models of melon male and female flowers and compared the geometric measures. Micro-CT allowed for a relatively easy and rapid generation of 3D volumetric data on nectar, nectary, flower, and honey bee body sizes. A comparative analysis of male and female flowers showed a strong positive correlation between the nectar gland volume and the volume of the secreted nectar. We modeled the nectar level inside the flower and reconstructed a 3D model of the accessibility by honey bees. By combining data on flower morphology, the honey bee size and nectar volume, this protocol can be used to assess the flower accessibility to pollinators in a high resolution, and can readily carry out genotypes comparative analysis to identify nectar-pollination-related traits.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsマイクロCTを用いて花、蜜腺、蜜、ハナバチの3D形態・体積を取得し、花粉媒介関連形質を高精度に評価するプロトコルを実装・提示しており、表現型取得法が中心である。
abstractHere, we implemented micro-CT to study floral morphology and honey bees in the context of nectar-related traits without a sample preparation to improve the phenotyping precision and quality.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper deposits its Python image-processing/phenotyping pipeline on GitHub and provides a supplement containing raw nectar/nectary measurement data (Tables S1–S4). Both are paper-specific, public, and actionable.Supplement · publicThe following supporting information can be downloaded at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/cells11213452/s1 . Figure S1: pollen on Stamens in ♂ and ⚥ flower types at different magnifications; Table S1: nectar-related traits in male and female flowers; Table S2: correlation analysis between nectary volume, nectary cross-section area, nectary surface, flower width and nectar volume in the respective male, female and pooled melon flowerOpen asset ↗lines:83-224Code / dataset availability confirmedOpenAlex · Europe PMC · Crossref · checked 8 Sept 2026
Currently, plant phenomics is considered the key to reducing the genotype-to-phenotype knowledge gap in plant breeding. In this context, breakthrough imaging technologies have demonstrated high accuracy and reliability. The X-ray computed tomography (CT) technology can noninvasively scan roots in 3D; however, it is urgently required to implement high-throughput phenotyping procedures and analyses to increase the amount of data to measure more complex root phenotypic traits. We have developed a spatial-temporal root architectural modeling software tool based on 4D data from temporal X-ray CT scans. Through a cylinder fitting, we automatically extract significant root architectural traits, distribution, and hierarchy. The open-source software tool is named 4DRoot and implemented in MATLAB. The source code is freely available at https://github.com/TIDOP-USAL/4DRoot. In this research, 3D root scans from the black walnut tree were analyzed, a punctual scan for the spatial study and a weekly time-slot series for the temporal one. 4DRoot provides breeders and root biologists an objective and useful tool to quantify carbon sequestration throw trait extraction. In addition, 4DRoot could help plant breeders to improve plants to meet the food, fuel, and fiber demands in the future, in order to increase crop yield while reducing farming inputs.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsX線CTの時系列3D画像から根系形態形質を自動抽出するソフトウェア開発が研究の中心であり、植物フェノタイピング手法に該当する。
abstractWe have developed a spatial-temporal root architectural modeling software tool based on 4D data from temporal X-ray CT scans.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's authors explicitly state that the 4DRoot source code (the software performing the root phenotyping analysis) is freely available on GitHub. The X-ray CT scan data themselves are not deposited in a public repository; only the code is. TreeQSM is a cited prior-work dependency, not a paper-specific asset.Code · publicThe open-source software tool is named 4DRoot and implemented in MATLAB. The source code is freely available at https://github.com/TIDOP-USAL/4DRoot .Open asset ↗TIDOP-USAL/4DRootlines:225-297Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · Crossref · checked 15 Sept 2026
X-ray micro-computed tomography (X-ray μCT) has enabled the characterization of the properties and processes that take place in plants and soils at the micron scale. Despite the widespread use of this advanced technique, major limitations in both hardware and software limit the speed and accuracy of image processing and data analysis. Recent advances in machine learning, specifically the application of convolutional neural networks to image analysis, have enabled rapid and accurate segmentation of image data. Yet, challenges remain in applying convolutional neural networks to the analysis of environmentally and agriculturally relevant images. Specifically, there is a disconnect between the computer scientists and engineers, who build these AI/ML tools, and the potential end users in agricultural research, who may be unsure of how to apply these tools in their work. Additionally, the computing resources required for training and applying deep learning models are unique, more common to computer gaming systems or graphics design work, than to traditional computational systems. To navigate these challenges, we developed a modular workflow for applying convolutional neural networks to X-ray μCT images, using low-cost resources in Google's Colaboratory web application. Here we present the results of the workflow, illustrating how parameters can be optimized to achieve best results using example scans from walnut leaves, almond flower buds, and a soil aggregate. We expect that this framework will accelerate the adoption and use of emerging deep learning techniques within the plant and soil sciences.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods植物試料のX線μCT画像を対象に、CNNによるセグメンテーション workflow を開発・最適化しており、植物画像からの表現型情報抽出法が中心である。
abstractwe developed a modular workflow for applying convolutional neural networks to X-ray μCT images, using low-cost resources in Google's Colaboratory web application.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's X-ray μCT training/annotation datasets (walnut leaf, almond flower bud, soil aggregate scans and annotations) are publicly deposited on USDA Ag Data Commons. The workflow code is stated to be on GitHub (Rippner et al., 2022b), but no authors' public URL for it appears in the supplied text or allowed URLs,soDataset · public; Théroux-Rancourt et al., 2020 ). This will allow researchers to gain novel insights into the role that 3d architecture of soil and plant samples plays in a variety of important processes.
Data availability statement
The datasets presented in this study can be found on the National Agricultural Library Ag Data Commons website https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/1524793 .
Author contributions
AM, DR, JE, PR, EF, and DP contributed to the conception and design of the study. MM, FD, and KS annotated images. PR, DR, JE, JN, and AB wrote code for image segmentation and data extraction. DR wrote the first draft of the manuscript. MM helped write the “Materials and Methods” section of the manuscriptOpen asset ↗National Agricultural Library Ag Data Commons · 10.15482/USDA.ADC/1524793lines:106-157Code / dataset availability confirmedbioRxiv · Europe PMC · Crossref · checked 15 Sept 2026
Quantifying healthy and degraded inner tissues in plants is of great interest in agronomy, for example, to assess plant health and quality and monitor physiological traits or diseases. However, detecting functional and degraded plant tissues in-vivo without harming the plant is extremely challenging. New solutions are needed in ligneous and perennial species, for which the sustainability of plantations is crucial. To tackle this challenge, we developed a novel approach based on multimodal 3D imaging and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based image processing that allowed a noninvasive diagnosis of inner tissues in living plants. The method was successfully applied to the grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) in vineyards where sustainability was threatened by trunk diseases, while the sanitary status of vines cannot be ascertained without injuring the plants. By combining MRI and X-ray CT 3D imaging with an automatic voxel classification, we could discriminate intact, degraded, and white rot tissues with a mean global accuracy of over 91%. Each imaging modality contribution to tissue detection was evaluated, and we identified quantitative structural and physiological markers characterizing wood degradation steps. The combined study of inner tissue distribution versus external foliar symptom history demonstrated that white rot and intact tissue contents are key measurements in evaluating vines sanitary status. We finally proposed a model for an accurate trunk disease diagnosis in grapevine. This work opens new routes for precision agriculture and in-situ monitoring of wood quality and plant health across plant species.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsブドウ樹内部組織と病害状態を、MRI・X線CT・自動ボクセル分類によって非破壊的に定量する手法を開発・評価しており、植物表現型取得が研究の中心である。
abstractwe developed a novel approach based on multimodal 3D imaging and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based image processing that allowed a noninvasive diagnosis of inner tissues in living plants
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's imaging datasets (MRI, X-ray CT, photographic volumes, annotations) are only available 'upon reasonable request', but the authors' extended Trainable Segmentation plugin used for the machine-learning voxel classification is explicitly open-source on GitHub.Code · publicFernandez et al. 24
DATA AND CODE AVAILABILITY
The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding
author upon reasonable request.
The extension of the Trainable Segmentation plugin is open-source, and available as a fork of Trainable
Segmentation on GitHub: https://github.com/Rocsg/Trainable_Segmentation/tree/Hyperweka.
.
CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license
perpetuity. It is made available under a
preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in
The copyright holder for this
this version posted February 3, 2023.
;
https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.09.495457
doOpen asset ↗Rocsg/Trainable_Segmentation · Hyperwekapdf-raw-page:24 lines:1-16Code / dataset availability confirmedbioRxiv · checked 8 Sept 2026
X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) is a powerful technique for the in vivo assessment of plant tissues. However, the potential X-ray exposure damages might affect the structure and elemental composition of living plant tissues leading to artefacts in the recorded data. Herein, we exposed soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) leaves to several X-ray doses through a polychromatic benchtop microprobe X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, modulating the photon flux by adjusting either the beam size, focus, or exposure time. The structure, ultrastructure and physiological responses of the irradiated plant tissues were investigated through light and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Depending on the dose, the X-ray exposure induced decreased K and X-ray scattering intensities, and increased Ca, P, and Mn signals on soybean leaves. Anatomical analysis indicated necrosis of the epidermal and mesophyll cells on the irradiated spots, where TEM images revealed the collapse of cytoplasm and cell-wall breaking. Furthermore, the histochemical analysis detected the production of reactive oxygen species, as well as inhibition of chlorophyll autofluorescence in these areas. Under certain X-ray exposure conditions, e.g., high photon flux and exposure time, XRF measurements may affect the soybean leaves structures, elemental composition, and cellular ultrastructure, and induce programmed cell death. These results shed light on the characterization of the radiation damage, and thus, help to assess the X-ray radiation limits and strategies for in vivo for XRF analysis. HighlightBy exposing soybean leaves to several X-ray doses, we show that the characteristic X-ray induced elemental changes stem from plants physiological signalling or responses rather than only sample dehydration.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods植物組織のin vivo XRF測定における放射線損傷と測定アーティファクトを評価し、適用限界と測定条件を検証する研究であり、フェノタイピング手法の技術的妥当性が中心です。
abstractX-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) is a powerful technique for the in vivo assessment of plant tissues.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's DATA AVAILABILITY section states the raw data (XRF spectra/maps and imaging measurements) are fully available on Figshare at the authors' public DOI, which matches an allowed URL.Dataset · publicThe raw data herein presented is fully available at Figshare
repository: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1858438Open asset ↗Figshare · 10.6084/m9.figshare.1858438pdf-page:6 lines:1-93Code / dataset availability confirmedOpenAlex · Crossref · Europe PMC · checked 14 Sept 2026
The vascular bundle of the shank is an important 'flow' organ for transforming maize biological yield to grain yield, and its microscopic phenotypic characteristics and genetic analysis are of great significance for promoting the breeding of new varieties with high yield and good quality. In this study, shank CT images were obtained using the standard process for stem micro-CT data acquisition at resolutions up to 13.5 μm. Moreover, five categories and 36 phenotypic traits of the shank including related to the cross-section, epidermis zone, periphery zone, inner zone and vascular bundle were analyzed through an automatic CT image process pipeline based on the functional zones. Next, we analyzed the phenotypic variations in vascular bundles at the base of the shank among a group of 202 inbred lines based on comprehensive phenotypic information for two environments. It was found that the number of vascular bundles in the inner zone (IZ_VB_N) and the area of the inner zone (IZ_A) varied the most among the different subgroups. Combined with genome-wide association studies (GWAS), 806 significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified, and 1245 unique candidate genes for 30 key traits were detected, including the total area of vascular bundles (VB_A), the total number of vascular bundles (VB_N), the density of the vascular bundles (VB_D), etc. These candidate genes encode proteins involved in lignin, cellulose synthesis, transcription factors, material transportation and plant development. The results presented here will improve the understanding of the phenotypic traits of maize shank and provide an important phenotypic basis for high-throughput identification of vascular bundle functional genes of maize shank and promoting the breeding of new varieties with high yield and good quality.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods植物茎部のマイクロCT画像から36形質を自動抽出するパイプラインが研究の中心であり、ハイスループット表現型解析手法の実質的な適用に該当する。
abstractshank CT images were obtained using the standard process for stem micro-CT data acquisition at resolutions up to 13.5 μm.
Reproduction assets found保存済みの本文根拠を更新済みルールで再検証し、公開資産1件を確認しました。Supplement · publicSupplementary Table S3: The BLUP values for 30-item phenotypic traits of the 202 inbred lines; Supplementary Table S4: The result data of GWASOpen asset ↗lines:712-726Code / dataset availability confirmedbioRxiv · checked 15 Sept 2026
O_LIAnnual rings from 30 year old vines in a California rootstock trial were measured to determine the effects of 15 different rootstocks on Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon scions. Viticultural traits measuring vegetative growth, yield, berry quality, and nutrient uptake were collected at the beginning and end of the lifetime of the vineyard. C_LIO_LIX-ray Computed Tomography (CT) was used to measure ring widths in 103 vines. Ring width was modeled as a function of ring number using a negative exponential model. Early and late wood ring widths, cambium width, and scion trunk radius were correlated with 27 traits. C_LIO_LIModeling of annual ring width shows that scions alter the width of the first rings but that rootstocks alter the decay thereafter, consistently shortening ring width throughout the lifetime of the vine. The ratio of yield to vegetative growth, juice pH, photosynthetic assimilation and transpiration rates, and stomatal conductance are correlated with scion trunk radius. C_LIO_LIRootstocks modulate secondary growth over years, altering hydraulic conductance, physiology, and agronomic traits. Rootstocks act in similar but distinct ways from climate to modulate ring width, which borrowing techniques from dendrochronology, can be used to monitor both genetic and environmental effects in woody perennial crop species. C_LI
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsX線CTによる年輪幅・形成層幅・幹半径の測定が研究の主要な表現型取得手段であり、樹体の二次成長を遺伝的・環境的影響のモニタリングに用いる方法として扱われている。
abstractX-ray Computed Tomography (CT) was used to measure ring widths in 103 vines.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper deposits its X-ray CT cross-section images with landmarks (the phenotyping inputs for ring-width measurement) on Dryad, and all data plus analysis code in a public GitHub repository/Jupyter notebook. Both are paper-specific, publicly available, and actionable.Dataset · publicBMG, IK, MRM, ELM, AWS, ALD, SS, and DHC analyzed data. ZM and DHC
510 coordinated research, data analysis, and manuscript writing. DHC wrote a first draft of the
511 manuscript which all authors read, commented on, and edited.
512
513 Data Availability
514
515 X-ray CT cross-sections with landmarks are deposited on Dryad:
516 http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gqnk98sqf. All data and code to reproduce results are posted on
517 the Github repository https://github.com/DanChitwood/grapevine_rings.
518
519 Supporting Information Table S1: Numbers of measured samples for each trait, for each
520 scion, for each year.
521
522 Table 1: Rootstock parentage
523
Rootstock Parentage
775 Paulsen V. berlaOpen asset ↗Dryad · 10.5061/dryad.gqnk98sqfpdf-layout-page:13 lines:1-51Code · publict writing. DHC wrote a first draft of the
511 manuscript which all authors read, commented on, and edited.
512
513 Data Availability
514
515 X-ray CT cross-sections with landmarks are deposited on Dryad:
516 http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gqnk98sqf. All data and code to reproduce results are posted on
517 the Github repository https://github.com/DanChitwood/grapevine_rings.
518
519 Supporting Information Table S1: Numbers of measured samples for each trait, for each
520 scion, for each year.
521
522 Table 1: Rootstock parentage
523
Rootstock Parentage
775 Paulsen V. berlandieri Rességuier 2 × V. rupestris du Lot
1103 Paulsen V. berlandieri Rességuier 2 × V. rupestris du Lot
3309 Couderc V. Open asset ↗GitHub · DanChitwood/grapevine_ringspdf-layout-page:13 lines:1-51Code / dataset availability confirmedbioRxiv · checked 13 Sept 2026
O_LICitrus come in diverse sizes and shapes, and play a key role in world culture and economy. Citrus oil glands in particular contain essential oils which include plant secondary metabolites associated with flavor and aroma. Capturing and analyzing nuanced information behind the citrus fruit shape and its oil gland distribution provides a morphology-driven path to further our insight into phenotype-genotype interactions. C_LIO_LIWe investigated the shape of citrus fruit of 51 accessions based on 3D X-ray CT scan reconstructions. Accessions include all three ancestral citrus species, accessions from related genera, and several interspecific hybrids. We digitally separate and compare the size of fruit endocarp, mesocarp, exocarp, and oil gland tissue. Based on the centers of the oil glands, overall fruit shape is approximated with an ellipsoid. Possible oil gland distributions on this ellipsoid surface are explored using directional statistics. C_LIO_LIThere is a strong allometry along fruit tissues; that is, we observe a strong linear relationship between the volume of any pair of major tissues. This suggests that the relative growth of fruit tissues with respect to each other follows a power law. We also observe that on average, glands distance themselves from their nearest neighbor following a square root relationship, which suggests normal diffusion dynamics at play. C_LIO_LIThe observed allometry and square root models point to the existence of biophysical developmental constraints that govern novel relationships between fruit dimensions from both evolutionary and breeding perspectives. Understanding these biophysical interactions prompt an exciting research path on fruit development and breeding. C_LI Societal Impact StatementCitrus are intrinsically connected to human health and culture, including preventing human diseases like scurvy, and inspiring sacred rituals. Citrus fruits come in a stunning number of different sizes and shapes, ranging from small clementines to oversized pummelos, and fruits display a vast diversity of flavors and aromas. These qualities are key in both traditional and modern medicine and the production of cleaning and perfume products. By quantifying and modeling overall fruit shape and oil gland distribution, we can gain further insight into citrus development and the impacts of domestication and improvement on multiple characteristics of the fruit.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods3D X線CT再構成とデジタル分離により、柑橘果実の形状・組織体積・油腺分布を定量化しモデル化しており、植物表現型の取得・解析が研究の中心です。
abstractCapturing and analyzing nuanced information behind the citrus fruit shape and its oil gland distribution provides a morphology-driven path to further our insight into phenotype-genotype interactions.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper explicitly deposits its processed citrus X-ray CT 3D reconstructions, segmented tissues, oil gland point clouds, and ellipsoidal approximations in Dryad, and its full image-processing and analysis code on GitHub. Both are paper-specific, public, and actionable.Code · public357 All our code is available at the https://github.com/amezqui3/vitaminC_morphology repos-Open asset ↗GitHub · amezqui3/vitaminC_morphologypdf-page:19 lines:1-48Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · Crossref · checked 15 Sept 2026
Capturing complete internal anatomies of plant organs and tissues within their relevant morphological context remains a key challenge in plant science. While plant growth and development are inherently multiscale, conventional light, fluorescence, and electron microscopy platforms are typically limited to imaging of plant microstructure from small flat samples that lack a direct spatial context to, and represent only a small portion of, the relevant plant macrostructures. We demonstrate technical advances with a lab-based X-ray microscope (XRM) that bridge the imaging gap by providing multiscale high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) volumes of intact plant samples from the cell to the whole plant level. Serial imaging of a single sample is shown to provide sub-micron 3D volumes co-registered with lower magnification scans for explicit contextual reference. High-quality 3D volume data from our enhanced methods facilitate sophisticated and effective computational segmentation. Advances in sample preparation make multimodal correlative imaging workflows possible, where a single resin-embedded plant sample is scanned via XRM to generate a 3D cell-level map, and then used to identify and zoom in on sub-cellular regions of interest for high-resolution scanning electron microscopy. In total, we present the methodologies for use of XRM in the multiscale and multimodal analysis of 3D plant features using numerous economically and scientifically important plant systems.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods植物の細胞から個体レベルの3D形態を取得するX線顕微鏡法と試料調製・計算セグメンテーションを中心に開発・提示しており、植物表現型取得手法が明確に主題である。
abstractWe demonstrate technical advances with a lab-based X-ray microscope (XRM) that bridge the imaging gap by providing multiscale high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) volumes of intact plant samples from the cell to the whole plant level.
Reproduction assets foundThe authors deposited fly-through animations of 2D image stacks and 3D volume rendering animations of the XRM scans shown in the paper's figures on figshare, directly reproducing this paper's plant phenotyping imaging data. No author analysis code or trained model checkpoints were explicitly deposited.Dataset · publicCanada) was used for data integration, visualization, and animation of the scan data, and to export image data as 2D 16-bit Tag Image File Format (TIFF) stacks. Fly-through animations of 2D image stacks for scans shown in all Figures, as well as 3D volume rendering animations of selected scans, are available for download from ( https://figshare.com/s/944efc8832e47fd4f203 ).
Image analysis and segmentation
Data from XRM scans were segmented using Amira software and with the assistance of a Wacom tablet for manual segmentation, in addition to ORS Dragonfly Deep Learning Module 2021.1.0.977 which is free for noncommercial use. Segmentation for Figure 1D combined automated and manual methods in Open asset ↗figsharelines:87-114Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 15 Sept 2026
Background 3D imaging, such as X-ray CT and MRI, has been widely deployed to study plant root structures. Many computational tools exist to extract coarse-grained features from 3D root images, such as total volume, root number and total root length. However, methods that can accurately and efficiently compute fine-grained root traits, such as root number and geometry at each hierarchy level, are still lacking. These traits would allow biologists to gain deeper insights into the root system architecture. Results We present TopoRoot, a high-throughput computational method that computes fine-grained architectural traits from 3D images of maize root crowns or root systems. These traits include the number, length, thickness, angle, tortuosity, and number of children for the roots at each level of the hierarchy. TopoRoot combines state-of-the-art algorithms in computer graphics, such as topological simplification and geometric skeletonization, with customized heuristics for robustly obtaining the branching structure and hierarchical information. TopoRoot is validated on both CT scans of excavated field-grown root crowns and simulated images of root systems, and in both cases, it was shown to improve the accuracy of traits over existing methods. TopoRoot runs within a few minutes on a desktop workstation for images at the resolution range of 400^3, with minimal need for human intervention in the form of setting three intensity thresholds per image. Conclusions TopoRoot improves the state-of-the-art methods in obtaining more accurate and comprehensive fine-grained traits of maize roots from 3D imaging. The automation and efficiency make TopoRoot suitable for batch processing on large numbers of root images. Our method is thus useful for phenomic studies aimed at finding the genetic basis behind root system architecture and the subsequent development of more productive crops.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods3D画像からトウモロコシ根系の階層別形態形質を抽出する計算手法を開発し、既存法と精度比較・検証しており、植物表現型取得が中心です。
abstractWe present TopoRoot, a high-throughput computational method that computes fine-grained architectural traits from 3D images of maize root crowns or root systems.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's authors publicly distribute the TopoRoot analysis software (C++ pipeline with GUI) together with the 45 X-ray CT scans of maize root crowns, per-image threshold values, and hand-measured nodal root counts in a GitHub repository. The synthetic OpenSimRoot images and ground-truth traits are only available on.Code · publicto a Euclidean distance field (e.g., using [ 29 ]). Fig. 12
Hierarchies of sorghum roots computed by TopoRoot, showing one tiller ( A ), two tillers ( B ), and four tillers ( C ). Hierarchy levels 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 are colored dark blue, light blue, green, orange, and red.
Software availability
TopoRoot is available for free at: https://github.com/danzeng8/TopoRoot .
Included in the page are instructions to run the software, and details on the formats of the input and output files. Currently, the accepted inputs are either image slices (suffixed with.png) or.raw files, with a.dat accompanying the.raw file to specify the dimensions. The output consists of a skeleton, a hierarchy annotationOpen asset ↗https://github.com/danzeng8/TopoRootlines:2051-2060Dataset · public\usepackage{amsfonts}
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\begin{document}$$t_{low} ,t_{mid} ,t_{high}$$\end{document} t low , t mid , t high ) and hand measurements of nodal roots for each sample, are available in the TopoRoot Github repository: https://github.com/danzeng8/TopoRoot . The synthetic images of simulated roots and associated ground truth trait measurements are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing inOpen asset ↗https://github.com/danzeng8/TopoRootlines:2061-2116Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 9 Sept 2026
MaizeX-ray / CTRootMorphology / geometry measurement2D/3D reconstructionRoot system architecture
The root system is critical for the survival of nearly all land plants and a key target for improving abiotic stress tolerance, nutrient accumulation, and yield in crop species. Although many methods of root phenotyping exist, within field studies, one of the most popular methods is the extraction and measurement of the upper portion of the root system, known as the root crown, followed by trait quantification based on manual measurements or 2D imaging. However, 2D techniques are inherently limited by the information available from single points of view. Here, we used X-ray computed tomography to generate highly accurate 3D models of maize root crowns and created computational pipelines capable of measuring 71 features from each sample. This approach improves estimates of the genetic contribution to root system architecture and is refined enough to detect various changes in global root system architecture over developmental time as well as more subtle changes in root distributions as a result of environmental differences. We demonstrate that root pulling force, a high-throughput method of root extraction that provides an estimate of root mass, is associated with multiple 3D traits from our pipeline. Our combined methodology can therefore be used to calibrate and interpret root pulling force measurements across a range of experimental contexts or scaled up as a stand-alone approach in large genetic studies of root system architecture.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsトウモロコシ根系のX線CT画像から3Dモデルを構築し、71形質を抽出する計算パイプラインを開発・適用しており、表現型取得手法が研究の中心です。
abstractHere, we used X-ray computed tomography to generate highly accurate 3D models of maize root crowns and created computational pipelines capable of measuring 71 features from each sample.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's custom image-processing and feature-extraction scripts are publicly available in the Topp-Roots-Lab GitHub repository, explicitly linked by the authors for reproducing the work. The phenotype data (Data File S1) is in supplements without a direct URL, and image volumes are only available upon request.Code · publicA more extensive description of trait implementations, all scripts used for image processing and feature extraction, and links to repositories required to reproduce the work are available at https://github.com/Topp-Roots-Lab/3d-root-crown-analysis-pipeline/Open asset ↗Topp-Roots-Lab/3d-root-crown-analysis-pipelinelines:42-50Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · OpenAlex · Crossref · checked 14 Sept 2026
The European mistletoe ( Viscum album ) is a dioecious epiphytic evergreen hemiparasite that develops an extensive endophyte enabling the absorption of water and mineral salts from the host tree, whereas the exophytic leaves are photosynthetically active. The attachment mode and host penetration are well studied, but little information is available about the effects of mistletoe age and sex on haustorium-host interactions. We harvested 130 plants of Viscum album ssp. album growing on host branches of Aesculus flava for morphological and anatomical investigations. Morphometric analyses of the mistletoe and the (hypertrophied) host interaction site were correlated with mistletoe age and sex. We recorded the morphology of the endophytic systems of various ages by using X-ray microtomography scans and corresponding stereomicroscopic images. For detailed anatomical studies, we examined thin stained sections of the mistletoe-host interface by light microscopy. The diameter and length of the branch hypertrophy showed a positive linear correlation with the age of the mistletoe. Correlations with their sex were only found for ratios between host branch and hypertrophy size. A female bias of about 76% was found. In a 4-year-old mistletoe, several small, almost equally sized sinkers and the connected cortical strands extend over more than 5 cm within the host branch. In older mistletoes, one main sinker was predominant and occupied an increasingly large proportion of the stem cross-section. Bands of vessels ran along the axis of the wedge-shaped haustoria and sinkers and bent sideways toward the mistletoe-host interface. At the interface, the vascular elements of the host wood changed their direction and formed vortices near the haustorium.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsマイクロCTとステレオ画像による植物内部構造の3D可視化・形態計測が研究の中心的手法であり、ミストルの内生系や宿主との相互作用部位という植物形態形質を取得している。
titleAdvances on the Visualization of the Internal Structures of the European Mistletoe: 3D Reconstruction Using Microtomography
Reproduction assets found保存済みの本文根拠を更新済みルールで再検証し、公開資産1件を確認しました。Supplement · publicSupplementary Table 1
Raw data of diameters and lengths of host branch (hypertrophy) and mistletoe.Open asset ↗lines:257-351Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · bioRxiv · checked 15 Sept 2026
Background 3D imaging, such as X-ray CT and MRI, has been widely deployed to study plant root structures. Many computational tools exist to extract coarse-grained features from 3D root images, such as total volume, root number and total root length. However, methods that can accurately and efficiently compute fine-grained root traits, such as root number and geometry at each hierarchy level, are still lacking. These traits would allow biologists to gain deeper insights into the root system architecture (RSA). Results We present TopoRoot, a high-throughput computational method that computes fine-grained architectural traits from 3D X-ray CT images of field-excavated maize root crowns. These traits include the number, length, thickness, angle, tortuosity, and number of children for the roots at each level of the hierarchy. TopoRoot combines state-of-the-art algorithms in computer graphics, such as topological simplification and geometric skeletonization, with customized heuristics for robustly obtaining the branching structure and hierarchical information. TopoRoot is validated on both real and simulated root images, and in both cases it was shown to improve the accuracy of traits over existing methods. We also demonstrate TopoRoot in differentiating a maize root mutant from its wild type segregant using fine-grained traits. TopoRoot runs within a few minutes on a desktop workstation for volumes at the resolution range of 400^3, without need for human intervention. Conclusions TopoRoot improves the state-of-the-art methods in obtaining more accurate and comprehensive fine-grained traits of maize roots from 3D CT images. The automation and efficiency makes TopoRoot suitable for batch processing on a large number of root images. Our method is thus useful for phenomic studies aimed at finding the genetic basis behind root system architecture and the subsequent development of more productive crops.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsX線CT画像からトウモロコシ根系の階層的形態形質を抽出する計算手法を開発し、実画像・シミュレーション画像で検証しているため、植物フェノタイピング手法が中心である。
abstractWe present TopoRoot, a high-throughput computational method that computes fine-grained architectural traits from 3D X-ray CT images of field-excavated maize root crowns.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's TopoRoot phenotyping software (C++ pipeline computing root hierarchy and fine-grained traits from X-ray CT volumes) and the datasets generated/analysed in the study (including the test dataset) are publicly released on the authors' GitHub repository.Code · publicduce a
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probability density field (e.g., deep learning). Since TopoRoot requires a gray-scale intensity
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volume with three thresholds (shape, kernel and neighborhood), a binary segmentation will first
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need to be converted into a Euclidean distance field.
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Software availability
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TopoRoot is available for free at: https://github.com/danzeng8/TopoRoot
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.
CC-BY 4.0 International license
available under a
(which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made
The copyright holder for this preprint
this version posted August 28, 2021.
;
https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.24.457522
doi:
bOpen asset ↗danzeng8/TopoRootpdf-raw-page:37 lines:1-53Dataset · public39
CT: Computed Tomography
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Declarations
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Ethics approval and consent to participate
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Not applicable
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Consent for publication
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Not applicable
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Availability of data and materials
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The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available in the TopoRoot
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Github repository: https://github.com/danzeng8/TopoRoot
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Competing interests
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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Funding
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under award
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numbers DBI-1759836, DBI-1759807, DBI-1759796, EF-1971728, CCF-1907612, CCF-
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2106672, and IOS-1638507. DZ is funded in part by aOpen asset ↗danzeng8/TopoRootpdf-raw-page:39 lines:1-45Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 9 Sept 2026
Background Hyperaccumulation of trace elements is a rare trait among plants which is being investigated to advance our understanding of the regulation of metal accumulation and applications in phytotechnologies. Noccaea caerulescens (Brassicaceae) is an intensively studied hyperaccumulator model plant capable of attaining extremely high tissue concentrations of zinc and nickel with substantial genetic variation at the population-level. Micro-X-ray Fluorescence spectroscopy (µXRF) mapping is a sensitive high-resolution technique to obtain information of the spatial distribution of the plant metallome in hydrated samples. We used laboratory-based µXRF to characterize a collection of 86 genetically diverse Noccaea caerulescens accessions from across Europe. We developed an image-processing method to segment different plant substructures in the µXRF images. We introduced the concentration quotient (CQ) to quantify spatial patterns of metal accumulation and linked that to genetic variation. Results Image processing resulted in automated segmentation of µXRF plant images into petiole, leaf margin, leaf interveinal and leaf vasculature substructures. The harmonic means of recall and precision (F1 score) were 0.79, 0.80, 0.67, and 0.68, respectively. Spatial metal accumulation as determined by CQ is highly heritable in Noccaea caerulescens for all substructures, with broad-sense heritability (H 2 ) ranging from 76 to 92%, and correlates only weakly with other heritable traits. Insertion of noise into the image segmentation algorithm barely decreases heritability scores of CQ for the segmented substructures, illustrating the robustness of the trait and the quantification method. Very low heritability was found for CQ if randomly generated substructures were compared, validating the approach. Conclusions A strategy for segmenting µXRF images of Noccaea caerulescens is proposed and the concentration quotient is developed to provide a quantitative measure of metal accumulation pattern, which can be used to determine genetic variation for such pattern. The metric is robust to segmentation error and provides reliable H 2 estimates. This strategy provides an avenue for quantifying XRF data for analysis of the genetics of metal distribution patterns in plants and the subsequent discovery of new genes that regulate metal homeostasis and sequestration in plants.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsµXRF画像の植物組織分割と、金属蓄積空間パターンを定量化する指標を開発・検証しており、植物表現型の取得・抽出手法が中心である。
abstractWe developed an image-processing method to segment different plant substructures in the µXRF images.
Reproduction assets foundThe authors explicitly state that the analysis code created for this study (µXRF image segmentation and CQ/heritability analysis) is publicly available in their GitHub repository. The phenotype datasets themselves are only available on request from the corresponding author, so they are noted as a request-only asset. NoCode · publicCode is available at https://github.com/LucasYEAST/noccaea .Open asset ↗LucasYEAST/noccaealines:211-272Code / dataset availability confirmedCrossref · Europe PMC · checked 9 Sept 2026
Abstract Background Drought threatens the food supply of the world population. Dissecting the dynamic responses of plants to drought will be beneficial for breeding drought-tolerant crops, as the genetic controls of these responses remain largely unknown. Results Here we develop a high-throughput multiple optical phenotyping system to noninvasively phenotype 368 maize genotypes with or without drought stress over a course of 98 days, and collected multiple optical images, including color camera scanning, hyperspectral imaging, and X-ray computed tomography images. We develop high-throughput analysis pipelines to extract image-based traits (i-traits). Of these i-traits, 10,080 were effective and heritable indicators of maize external and internal drought responses. An i-trait-based genome-wide association study reveals 4322 significant locus-trait associations, representing 1529 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and 2318 candidate genes, many that co-localize with previously reported maize drought responsive QTLs. Expression QTL (eQTL) analysis uncovers many local and distant regulatory variants that control the expression of the candidate genes. We use genetic mutation analysis to validate two new genes, ZmcPGM2 and ZmFAB1A , which regulate i-traits and drought tolerance. Moreover, the value of the candidate genes as drought-tolerant genetic markers is revealed by genome selection analysis, and 15 i-traits are identified as potential markers for maize drought tolerance breeding. Conclusion Our study demonstrates that combining high-throughput multiple optical phenotyping and GWAS is a novel and effective approach to dissect the genetic architecture of complex traits and clone drought-tolerance associated genes.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods高スループット光学フェノタイピングシステムの開発と、画像から植物の外部・内部形質を抽出する解析パイプラインが研究の中心であるため含める。
abstractHere we develop a high-throughput multiple optical phenotyping system to noninvasively phenotype 368 maize genotypes with or without drought stress over a course of 98 days
Reproduction assets foundThe paper publicly deposits its maize RGB/HSI/CT images, i-trait phenotypic data, and genotype data on Figshare, and the authors' CT/HSI/RGB image-analysis pipeline code on GitHub and Zenodo, plus figures/supplemental files on Figshare.Code · publicThe code of CT, HSI, and RGB image analysis pipelines could be downloaded via the link: https://github.com/fenghuifh2006/Maize-RGB-CT-HSI-programOpen asset ↗github · fenghuifh2006/Maize-RGB-CT-HSI-programlines:185-218Code · publicThe code of CT, HSI, and RGB image analysis pipelines could be downloaded via the link: https://github.com/fenghuifh2006/Maize-RGB-CT-HSI-program and https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4690730Open asset ↗zenodo · 10.5281/zenodo.4690730lines:185-218Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · bioRxiv · checked 15 Sept 2026
ABSTRACT The root system is critical for the survival of nearly all land plants and a key target for improving abiotic stress tolerance, nutrient accumulation, and yield in crop species. Although many methods of root phenotyping exist, within field studies one of the most popular methods is the extraction and measurement of the upper portion of the root system, known as the root crown, followed by trait quantification based on manual measurements or 2D imaging. However, 2D techniques are inherently limited by the information available from single points of view. Here, we used X-ray computed tomography to generate highly accurate 3D models of maize root crowns and created computational pipelines capable of measuring 71 features from each sample. This approach improves estimates of the genetic contribution to root system architecture, and is refined enough to detect various changes in global root system architecture over developmental time as well as more subtle changes in root distributions as a result of environmental differences. We demonstrate that root pulling force, a high-throughput method of root extraction that provides an estimate of root biomass, is associated with multiple 3D traits from our pipeline. Our combined methodology can therefore be used to calibrate and interpret root pulling force measurements across a range of experimental contexts, or scaled up as a stand-alone approach in large genetic studies of root system architecture.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsトウモロコシ根系を対象に、X線CTによる3Dモデル化と計算パイプラインで71形質を抽出し、根引抜き力との較正・解釈まで行う、中心的な表現型計測手法研究である。
abstractHere, we used X-ray computed tomography to generate highly accurate 3D models of maize root crowns and created computational pipelines capable of measuring 71 features from each sample.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper states that the authors' scripts for X-ray CT image processing and root feature extraction (batch-segmentation, batch-skeleton) are publicly available in the Topp-Roots-Lab GitHub repository. Raw phenotype data is said to be in Supplemental File 1, but no public URL for it is provided in the supplied blocks.Code · publicestimated by taking the 2D projection of the 3D volume, then
185 calculated using a similar approach to that described in Grift et al., 2011. DensityS features are
186 computationally similar to plant compactness traits described in Yang et al., 2014. Scripts used
187 for image processing and feature extraction are available at https://github.com/Topp-Roots-Lab/
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189 Statistical Analysis
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191 All downstream (i.e. post feature extraction) analysis was performed in the R statistical
192 computing environment. Initially, principal component analysis using all 71 3D roots traits was
193 used to identify large outliers, leading to the removal of 2 samples in the G2F 2017 data and 3
19Open asset ↗Topp-Roots-Labpdf-layout-page:5 lines:1-56Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 9 Sept 2026
Lodging is a common problem in rice, reducing its yield and mechanical harvesting efficiency. Rice architecture is a key aspect of its domestication and a major factor that limits its high productivity. The ideal rice culm structure, including major_axis_culm, minor axis_culm, and wall thickness_culm, is critical for improving lodging resistance. However, the traditional method of measuring rice culms is destructive, time consuming, and labor intensive. In this study, we used a high-throughput micro-CT-RGB imaging system and deep learning (SegNet) to develop a high-throughput micro-CT image analysis pipeline that can extract 24 rice culm morphological traits and lodging resistance-related traits. When manual and automatic measurements were compared at the mature stage, the mean absolute percentage errors for major_axis_culm, minor_axis_culm, and wall_thickness_culm in 104 indica rice accessions were 6.03%, 5.60%, and 9.85%, respectively, and the R 2 values were 0.799, 0.818, and 0.623. We also built models of bending stress using culm traits at the mature and tillering stages, and the R 2 values were 0.722 and 0.544, respectively. The modeling results indicated that this method can quantify lodging resistance nondestructively, even at an early growth stage. In addition, we also evaluated the relationships of bending stress to shoot dry weight, culm density, and drought-related traits and found that plants with greater resistance to bending stress had slightly higher biomass, culm density, and culm area but poorer drought resistance. In conclusion, we developed a deep learning-integrated micro-CT image analysis pipeline to accurately quantify the phenotypic traits of rice culms in ∼4.6 min per plant; this pipeline will assist in future high-throughput screening of large rice populations for lodging resistance.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods深層学習統合micro-CT画像解析パイプラインを開発し、イネ茎の形態・倒伏抵抗性関連形質を非破壊かつ高スループットに抽出・検証しており、植物フェノタイピング手法が研究の中心である。
abstractwe used a high-throughput micro-CT-RGB imaging system and deep learning (SegNet) to develop a high-throughput micro-CT image analysis pipeline that can extract 24 rice culm morphological traits and lodging resistance-related traits.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's micro-CT rice culm phenotyping pipeline source code is explicitly stated to be publicly available on the authors' GitHub repository and their Crop Phenomics Group website; phenotypic data are in Supplemental Data 1 (not directly linked here).Code · publicThe source code and user guidelines are available at http://plantphenomics.hzau.edu.cn/download_checkiflogin_en.action and https://github.com/diwu861125/diwu123456 .Open asset ↗diwu861125/diwu123456lines:329-354Code · publicthe main source code is provided in Supplemental Video 1 , Supplemental Note 2 , our Crop Phenomics Group website ( http://plantphenomics.hzau.edu.cn/download_checkiflogin_en.action ), and a GitHub website ( https://github.com/diwu861125/diwu123456 ).Open asset ↗lines:145-217Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · Crossref · bioRxiv · checked 15 Sept 2026
Capturing complete internal anatomies of plant organs and tissues within their relevant morphological context remains a key challenge in plant science. While plant growth and development are inherently multiscale, conventional light, fluorescence, and electron microscopy platforms are typically limited to imaging of plant microstructure from small flat samples that lack direct spatial context to, and represent only a small portion of, the relevant plant macrostructures. We demonstrate technical advances with a lab-based X-ray microscope (XRM) that bridge the imaging gap by providing multiscale high-resolution 3D volumes of intact plant samples from the cell to whole plant level. Serial imaging of a single sample is shown to provide sub-micron 3D volumes co-registered with lower magnification scans for explicit contextual reference. High quality 3D volume data from our enhanced methods facilitate more sophisticated and effective computational segmentation and analyses than have previously been employed for X-ray based imaging. Advances in sample preparation make multimodal correlative imaging workflows possible, where a single resin-embedded plant sample is scanned via XRM to generate a 3D cell-level map, and then used to identify and zoom in on sub-cellular regions of interest for high resolution scanning electron microscopy. In total, we present the methodologies for use of XRM in the multiscale and multimodal analysis of 3D plant features using numerous economically and scientifically important plant systems.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods植物試料の細胞から個体までを対象に、X線顕微鏡によるマルチスケール3D画像取得、試料調製、計算セグメンテーション、相関イメージングの方法論を中心に提示しており、植物形態の取得・解析法が明確に中心です。
abstractWe demonstrate technical advances with a lab-based X-ray microscope (XRM) that bridge the imaging gap by providing multiscale high-resolution 3D volumes of intact plant samples from the cell to whole plant level.
Reproduction assets foundThe preprint points to a public figshare collection containing the paper's high-resolution XRM image stacks ('flythroughs') and videos of the 3D plant datasets, which directly reproduce the paper's phenotyping imaging measurements. No author analysis code or trained model checkpoint is explicitly deposited; the deep-seDataset · publicof these improved techniques will
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make a significant contribution to plant biology, expanding the reach of XRM as a
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routine tool for 3D imaging for plant scientists.
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high-resolution image stacks (“flythroughs”) and videos portraying the 3D data sets can be found here:
https://figshare.com/s/944efc8832e47fd4f203
.
CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license
available under a
(which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made
The copyright holder for this preprint
this version posted December 22, 2020.
;
https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.18.423480
doiOpen asset ↗figsharepdf-raw-page:4 lines:1-64Code / dataset availability confirmedOpenAlex · Crossref · Europe PMC · checked 14 Sept 2026
Traditional seed and fruit phenotyping are mainly accomplished by manual measurement or extraction of morphological properties from two-dimensional images. These methods are not only in low-throughput but also unable to collect their three-dimensional (3D) characteristics and internal morphology. X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning, which provides a convenient means of non-destructively recording the external and internal 3D structures of seeds and fruits, offers a potential to overcome these limitations. However, the current CT equipment cannot be adopted to scan seeds and fruits with high throughput. And there is no specialized software for automatic extraction of phenotypes from CT images. Here, we introduced a high-throughput image acquisition approach by mounting a specially-designed seed-fruit container onto the scanning bed. The corresponding 3D image analysis software, 3DPheno-Seed&Fruit, was created for automatic segmentation and rapid quantification of eight morphological phenotypes of internal and external compartments of seeds and fruits. 3DPheno-Seed&Fruit is a graphical user interface designed and user-friendly software with an excellent phenotype result visualization function. We described the software in detail and benchmarked it based upon CT image analyses in seeds of soybean, wheat, peanut, pine nut, pistacia nut and dwarf Russian almond fruit. R2 values between the extracted and manual measurements of seed length, width, thickness, and radius ranged from 0.80 to 0.96 for soybean and wheat. High correlations were found between the 2D (length, width, thickness, and radius) and 3D (volume and surface area) phenotypes for soybean. Overall, our methods provide robust and novel tools for phenotyping the morphological seed and fruit traits of various plant species, which could benefit crop breeding and functional genomics.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsCT画像取得法と3D解析ソフトウェアを開発し、種子・果実形態形質の自動抽出をベンチマークしており、フェノタイピング手法が中心である。
abstractHere, we introduced a high-throughput image acquisition approach by mounting a specially-designed seed-fruit container onto the scanning bed.
Reproduction assets found保存済みの本文根拠を更新済みルールで再検証し、公開資産1件を確認しました。Dataset · public3DPheno-Seed&Fruit software and CT image datasets used in this manuscript are free for academic purpose and can be downloaded from http://www.wutbiolab.com/resources/39/info/29 and https://github.com/whut-biolab-liuchang/projectOpen asset ↗lines:304-314Code / dataset availability confirmedOpenAlex · Europe PMC · checked 14 Sept 2026
PREMISE: X-ray microcomputed tomography (microCT) can be used to measure 3D leaf internal anatomy, providing a holistic view of tissue organization. Previously, the substantial time needed for segmenting multiple tissues limited this technique to small data sets, restricting its utility for phenotyping experiments and limiting our confidence in the inferences of these studies due to low replication numbers. METHODS AND RESULTS: We present a Python codebase for random forest machine learning segmentation and 3D leaf anatomical trait quantification that dramatically reduces the time required to process single-leaf microCT scans into detailed segmentations. By training the model on each scan using six hand-segmented image slices out of >1500 in the full leaf scan, it achieves >90% accuracy in background and tissue segmentation. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, this 3D segmentation and quantification pipeline can reduce one of the major barriers to using microCT imaging in high-throughput plant phenotyping.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods3DマイクロCT画像から葉の内部解剖形質を抽出する機械学習セグメンテーションと定量化パイプラインの開発が中心であり、植物フェノタイピングへの適用性も明示されている。
abstractWe present a Python codebase for random forest machine learning segmentation and 3D leaf anatomical trait quantification
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's authors publicly released their random forest segmentation/leaf-traits analysis code on GitHub and the microCT image dataset, hand-labeled training slices, and segmentation outputs on Zenodo.Code · publicThe code and an in-depth user manual are available at https://Open asset ↗pdf-raw-page:8 lines:1-78Dataset · publicgithub.com/plant-microct-tools/leaf-traits-microct. Future updates
will be integrated to this repository. The microCT data set, training
hand-labeled slices, and all image outputs of the program including
one full stack segmentation are available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3694973 (Théroux-Rancourt et al., 2020b).
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Additional Supporting Information may be found online in the
supporting information tab for this article.
APPENDIX S1. Average proportion of pixels per tissue in the 24
slices of the training data set.
APPENDIX S2. Standard deviation of thickness estimates pre-
sented inOpen asset ↗Zenodo · 10.5281/zenodo.3694973pdf-raw-page:8 lines:79-106Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 9 Sept 2026
The traits of rice panicles play important roles in yield assessment, variety classification, rice breeding, and cultivation management. Most traditional grain phenotyping methods require threshing and thus are time-consuming and labor-intensive; moreover, these methods cannot obtain 3D grain traits. In this work, based on X-ray computed tomography, we proposed an image analysis method to extract twenty-two 3D grain traits. After 104 samples were tested, the R 2 values between the extracted and manual measurements of the grain number and grain length were 0.980 and 0.960, respectively. We also found a high correlation between the total grain volume and weight. In addition, the extracted 3D grain traits were used to classify the rice varieties, and the support vector machine classifier had a higher recognition accuracy than the stepwise discriminant analysis and random forest classifiers. In conclusion, we developed a 3D image analysis pipeline to extract rice grain traits using X-ray computed tomography that can provide more 3D grain information and could benefit future research on rice functional genomics and rice breeding.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsX線CTを用いてイネ穀粒の22種類の3D形質を抽出する画像解析パイプラインを開発し、手動測定との一致性で検証しているため、植物フェノタイピング手法が研究の中心です。
abstractIn this work, based on X-ray computed tomography, we proposed an image analysis method to extract twenty-two 3D grain traits.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's MATLAB 3D image analysis pipeline for extracting rice grain traits from X-ray CT is explicitly stated to be publicly available, with an authors' GitHub repository URL matching an allowed URL. The phenotypic data (Supplementary File 1) is only available as a PMC supplement with no allowed URL, so it is not aCode · publicthe source codes of all the scripts are available online in Supplementary File 3 or at the following link: http://plantphenomics.hzau.edu.cn/download_checkiflogin_en.action , or https://github.com/cancanzc/ricePanicle_grainTraits_ProcessingOpen asset ↗cancanzc/ricePanicle_grainTraits_Processinglines:109-117Code / dataset availability confirmedCrossref · Europe PMC · checked 9 Sept 2026
Summary Inflorescence architecture in plants is often complex and challenging to quantify, particularly for inflorescences of cereal grasses. Methods for capturing inflorescence architecture and for analyzing the resulting data are limited to a few easily captured parameters that may miss the rich underlying diversity. Here, we apply X‐ray computed tomography combined with detailed morphometrics, offering new imaging and computational tools to analyze three‐dimensional inflorescence architecture. To show the power of this approach, we focus on the panicles of Sorghum bicolor , which vary extensively in numbers, lengths, and angles of primary branches, as well as the three‐dimensional shape, size, and distribution of the seed. We imaged and comprehensively evaluated the panicle morphology of 55 sorghum accessions that represent the five botanical races in the most common classification system of the species, defined by genetic data. We used our data to determine the reliability of the morphological characters for assigning specimens to race and found that seed features were particularly informative. However, the extensive overlap between botanical races in multivariate trait space indicates that the phenotypic range of each group extends well beyond its overall genetic background, indicating unexpectedly weak correlation between morphology, genetic identity, and domestication history.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsX線CTと詳細な形態計測を組み合わせ、ソルガム穂の3次元形態を取得・解析する画像ベース表現型手法が研究の中心であるため。
abstractHere, we apply X‐ray computed tomography combined with detailed morphometrics, offering new imaging and computational tools to analyze three‐dimensional inflorescence architecture.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper explicitly states that the full 3D X-ray imaging dataset of sorghum panicles is publicly downloadable from the Topp lab resources page, and that all image processing, feature extraction, and statistical analysis code is available in a public GitHub repository (Topp-Roots-Lab/3D-Sorghum-Inflorescence). Both URDataset · publicThe full 3D imaging dataset for this work can be downloaded from: https://www.danforthcenter.org/scientists‐research/principal‐investigators/chris‐topp/resourcesOpen asset ↗lines:51-62Code · publicAll code used for image processing, digital feature extraction, and statistical analysis from this study can be found at the following GitHub repository: https://github.com/Topp‐Roots‐Lab/3D‐Sorghum‐InflorescenceOpen asset ↗Topp‐Roots‐Lab/3D‐Sorghum‐Inflorescencelines:51-62Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · OpenAlex · checked 9 Sept 2026
Inflorescence architecture provides the scaffold on which flowers and fruits develop, and consequently is a primary trait under investigation in many crop systems. Yet the challenge remains to analyse these complex 3D branching structures with appropriate tools. High information content datasets are required to represent the actual structure and facilitate full analysis of both the geometric and the topological features relevant to phenotypic variation in order to clarify evolutionary and developmental inflorescence patterns. We combined advanced imaging (X-ray tomography) and computational approaches (topological and geometric data analysis and structural simulations) to comprehensively characterize grapevine inflorescence architecture (the rachis and all branches without berries) among 10 wild Vitis species. Clustering and correlation analyses revealed unexpected relationships, for example pedicel branch angles were largely independent of other traits. We identified multivariate traits that typified species, which allowed us to classify species with 78.3% accuracy, versus 10% by chance. Twelve traits had strong signals across phylogenetic clades, providing insight into the evolution of inflorescence architecture. We provide an advanced framework to quantify 3D inflorescence and other branched plant structures that can be used to tease apart subtle, heritable features for a better understanding of genetic and environmental effects on plant phenotypes.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsX線CT画像と計算解析を組み合わせ、ブドウの3D花序構造を定量化する再利用可能な表現型解析フレームワークを開発・適用しており、手法が研究の中心である。
abstractWe combined advanced imaging (X-ray tomography) and computational approaches (topological and geometric data analysis and structural simulations) to comprehensively characterize grapevine inflorescence architecture
Reproduction assets foundThe paper explicitly deposits two paper-specific public assets: the full X-ray tomography PLY dataset (7.85 GB) of 392 scanned grapevine inflorescences hosted on the Danforth Center Topp lab resources page, and the authors' Matlab analysis code (persistence barcodes, bottleneck distances, berry potential simulation,几何/Dataset · publicThe full PLY dataset for this work is 7.85 GB, and can be downloaded from: https://www.danforthcenter.org/scientists-research/principal-investigators/chris-topp/resources .Open asset ↗lines:39-133Code · publicAll Matlab functions used to calculate persistence barcodes, bottleneck distances, simulation for berry potential, other geometric features used in this study, and the script for extracting phylogenetic information can be found at the following GitHub repository: https://github.com/Topp-Roots-Lab/Grapevine-inflorescence-architecture .Open asset ↗Topp-Roots-Lab/Grapevine-inflorescence-architecturelines:174-184Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 10 Sept 2026
Manual phenotyping of rice tillers is time consuming and labor intensive, and lags behind the rapid development of rice functional genomics. Thus, automated, non-destructive methods of phenotyping rice tiller traits at a high spatial resolution and high throughput for large-scale assessment of rice accessions are urgently needed. In this study, we developed a high-throughput micro-CT-RGB imaging system to non-destructively extract 739 traits from 234 rice accessions at nine time points. We could explain 30% of the grain yield variance from two tiller traits assessed in the early growth stages. A total of 402 significantly associated loci were identified by genome-wide association study, and dynamic and static genetic components were found across the nine time points. A major locus associated with tiller angle was detected at time point 9, which contained a major gene, TAC1. Significant variants associated with tiller angle were enriched in the 3'-untranslated region of TAC1. Three haplotypes for the gene were found, and rice accessions containing haplotype H3 displayed much smaller tiller angles. Further, we found two loci containing associations with both vigor-related traits identified by high-throughput micro-CT-RGB imaging and yield. The superior alleles would be beneficial for breeding for high yield and dense planting.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods高スループットなmicro-CT-RGB画像システムを開発し、イネの形態形質を多数・経時的に非破壊抽出することが研究の中心であるため、GWAS応用を含む植物フェノタイピング手法研究として含める。
abstractautomated, non-destructive methods of phenotyping rice tiller traits at a high spatial resolution and high throughput for large-scale assessment of rice accessions are urgently needed.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper deposits its rice tiller phenotyping datasets, images, and analysis source code at Dryad (doi:10.5061/dryad.gm18v5f), and makes the raw phenotypic data and CT/RGB images publicly downloadable via the HZAU plant phenomics database. Both are paper-specific, public, and actionable.Dataset · publicData collected from 234 rice accessions, including genotype ID, cultivar name, and all phenotypic traits.
Dataset S1. Rice accession information and phenotypic traits (RGB, CT, and manual traits) used in this work.
Dataset S2. GWAS results.Open asset ↗lines:207-246Dataset · publicAll the phenotypic data and images can be viewed and downloaded via the link http://plantphenomics.hzau.edu.cn/checkiflogin_en.action by following these steps: (i) select ‘rice’; (ii) select ‘2015-tiller’ in the year section; (iii) select one of the accession IDs in the ID section and then press ‘search images’; (iv) nine CT images and nine side-view color images can be viewed and downloaded; (v) a similar process can be used to view and download phenotypic traits by pressing ‘search data’. The detailed procedure for the database is shown in Fig. S10 available at Dryad.Open asset ↗lines:207-246Code / dataset availability confirmedbioRxiv · Europe PMC · checked 10 Sept 2026
Root systems are branched networks that develop from simple growth properties of their individual roots. Yet a mature maize root system has many thousands of roots that each interact with soil structures, water and nutrient patches, and microbial ecologies in the micro-environments surrounding each root tip. Although the plasticity of root growth to these and other environmental factors is well known, how the many local processes contribute over time to global features of root system architecture is hardly understood. We employ an automated 3D root imaging pipeline to capture the growth of maize roots every four hours throughout seven days of seedling development. We model the contrasting architectures of two maize inbred genotypes and their hybrid to derive key parameters that distinguish complex growth patterns as a function of time. The statistical characteristics of local root growth defined the global system properties despite a large range of trait values. \"Computational dissection\" of a single root from each root system identified differences in the size of the root branching zone and lateral branching densities, but not radial patterns, that drove the contrasting root architectures from seedling to maturity. X-ray imaging of mature field-grown root crowns showed that seedling growth trajectories persisted throughout development and could predict eventual architectures, suggesting a strong genetic basis. The work connects individual and systemwide scales of root growth dynamics, providing the means for a function-valued approach to understanding the genetic and genetic x environment conditioning of root growth that will enable breeding for enhanced root traits.\n\nSIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTWhen and where roots grow determines their ability to capture short-lived and patchy water and nutrient resources to support the aboveground organs of the plant. Roots have no known long-distance external sensing mechanisms, but form branched networks that blindly explore the soil and respond to encountered local stimuli. How global architectures form from the many thousands of these local responses, and how they are controlled genetically are major open questions. Here we quantify differences in local root growth patterns of two inbred genotypes of maize that control contrasting systemwide properties. Measurements at the seedling stage were highly correlated with the complex architectures of mature root systems, paving the way for the development of crops with greater resource uptake capacity.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods自動3D根画像パイプラインで根系成長を4時間ごとに取得・解析し、局所成長パラメータから根系構造形質を推定しており、フェノタイピング手法が研究の中心である。
abstractWe employ an automated 3D root imaging pipeline to capture the growth of maize roots every four hours throughout seven days of seedling development.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper explicitly states that the custom R code used to extract and analyze dynamic root traits from the 4D time-series phenotyping data is publicly available on the authors' GitHub (Topp-Roots-Lab/timeseries_analysis). This is a paper-specific, publicly actionable analysis code asset. No public phenotype dataset orCode · publicpaired it with DynamicRoots
software (46), and custom R code (available on Github: https://github.com/Topp-Roots-Open asset ↗Topp-Roots-pdf-page:5 lines:1-27Code / dataset availability confirmedbioRxiv · Europe PMC · checked 15 Sept 2026
Traditional phenotyping of rice tillers is time consuming and labor intensive and lags behind the rapid development of rice functional genomics. Thus, dynamic phenotyping of rice tiller traits at a high spatial resolution and high-throughput for large-scale rice accessions is urgently needed. In this study, we developed a high-throughput micro-CT-RGB (HCR) imaging system to non-destructively extract 730 traits from 234 rice accessions at 9 time points. We used these traits to predict the grain yield in the early growth stage, and 30% of the grain yield variance was explained by 2 tiller traits in the early growth stage. A total of 402 significantly associated loci were identified by GWAS, and dynamic and static genetic components were found across the nine time points. A major locus associated with tiller angle was detected at nine time points, which contained a major gene TAC1. Significant variants associated with tiller angle were enriched in the 3'-UTR of TAC1. Three haplotypes for the gene were found and tiller angles of rice accessions containing haplotype H3 were much smaller. Further, we found two loci contained associations with both vigor-related HCR traits and yield. The superior alleles would be beneficial for breeding of high yield and dense planting.\n\nHighlightCombining high-throughput micro-CT-RGB phenotyping facility and genome-wide association study to dissect the genetic architecture of rice tiller development by using the indica subpopulation.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods高スループットのマイクロCT-RGB画像システムを開発し、イネの形態形質を多数・時系列で抽出することが研究の中心であるため。GWASはその応用にあたる。
abstractwe developed a high-throughput micro-CT-RGB (HCR) imaging system to non-destructively extract 730 traits from 234 rice accessions at 9 time points.
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's own micro-CT-RGB phenotyping outputs (CT images, side-view RGB images, and extracted phenotypic traits for 234 rice accessions at 9 time points) are explicitly stated to be publicly viewable and downloadable from the authors' Huazhong Agricultural University plant phenotyping database. RiceVarMap is an exteDataset · public276
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Phenotyping database extracted by HCR at 9 time points
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During the tillering stage, 234 rice plants were automatically measured by HCR at 9
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different development time points (once every 3 d, starting from 41 ~ 67 d after
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sowing). All the phenotypic data and images can be viewed and downloaded via the
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link http://plantphenomics.hzau.edu.cn/checkiflogin_en.action and then following
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these steps: (1) select ‘rice’; (2) select ‘2015-tiller’ in the year section; (3) select one
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of the accession IDs in the ID section and then press ‘search images’; (4) 9 CT images
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and 9 side-view color images can be viewed and downloaded; (5) a similar process
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can be used to viOpen asset ↗plantphenomics.hzau.edu.cnpdf-raw-page:10 lines:1-76Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · OpenAlex · checked 10 Sept 2026
Background Wheat is one of the most widely grown crop in temperate climates for food and animal feed. In order to meet the demands of the predicted population increase in an ever-changing climate, wheat production needs to dramatically increase. Spike and grain traits are critical determinants of final yield and grain uniformity a commercially desired trait, but their analysis is laborious and often requires destructive harvest. One of the current challenges is to develop an accurate, non-destructive method for spike and grain trait analysis capable of handling large populations. Results In this study we describe the development of a robust method for the accurate extraction and measurement of spike and grain morphometric parameters from images acquired by X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT). The image analysis pipeline developed automatically identifies plant material of interest in μCT images, performs image analysis, and extracts morphometric data. As a proof of principle, this integrated methodology was used to analyse the spikes from a population of wheat plants subjected to high temperatures under two different water regimes. Temperature has a negative effect on spike height and grain number with the middle of the spike being the most affected region. The data also confirmed that increased grain volume was correlated with the decrease in grain number under mild stress. Conclusions Being able to quickly measure plant phenotypes in a non-destructive manner is crucial to advance our understanding of gene function and the effects of the environment. We report on the development of an image analysis pipeline capable of accurately and reliably extracting spike and grain traits from crops without the loss of positional information. This methodology was applied to the analysis of wheat spikes can be readily applied to other economically important crop species.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methodsX線マイクロCT画像からコムギの穂・粒形態形質を自動抽出・測定する画像解析パイプラインの開発が研究の中心であり、実データへの適用も行っている。
abstractwe describe the development of a robust method for the accurate extraction and measurement of spike and grain morphometric parameters from images acquired by X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT).
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's μCT wheat grain phenotyping pipeline is publicly available: author analysis code (microCT_grain_analyser, ISQ-Reader on GitHub) and the reconstructed 3D volumes/segmented images and trait datasets in the Aberystwyth University research data catalogue.Code · publicAll the source code as well as user instructions are available from https://github.com/NPPC-UK/microCT_grain_analyser .Open asset ↗NPPC-UK/microCT_grain_analyserlines:49-62Dataset · publicAll reconstructed 3D volumes and segmented images can be accessed at https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/research/data-catalogue/a11df174-d73d-4443-a7fd-ab5b7039df79/ [ 30 ].Open asset ↗lines:49-62Code / dataset availability confirmedEurope PMC · checked 10 Sept 2026
BarleyChickpeaWheatLaboratory / benchtopX-ray / CTRootMorphology / geometry measurementSegmentationRoot system architecture
The objective of this study was to develop a flexible and free image processing and analysis solution, based on the Public Domain ImageJ platform, for the segmentation and analysis of complex biological plant root systems in soil from x-ray tomography 3D images. Contrasting root architectures from wheat, barley and chickpea root systems were grown in soil and scanned using a high resolution micro-tomography system. A macro (Root1) was developed that reliably identified with good to high accuracy complex root systems (10% overestimation for chickpea, 1% underestimation for wheat, 8% underestimation for barley) and provided analysis of root length and angle. In-built flexibility allowed the user interaction to (a) amend any aspect of the macro to account for specific user preferences, and (b) take account of computational limitations of the platform. The platform is free, flexible and accurate in analysing root system metrics.
Why it matches plant phenotyping methods植物根系の3D画像から根長・根角度を抽出する画像解析ツールの開発と精度評価が研究の中心であるため。
abstractThe objective of this study was to develop a flexible and free image processing and analysis solution
Reproduction assets foundThe paper's μCT root image data and analysis files (including the Root1 macro workflow) are stated to be publicly deposited in a Harvard Dataverse dataset with an explicit DOI, directly supporting this paper's root phenotyping measurements and analysis.Dataset · publicAll files are available from the database https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/DXG4AH .Open asset ↗doi:10.7910/DVN/DXG4AHlines:45-53