Review: Plant phenomics, from sensors to knowledge ($)

CurrBio Fig1

Plants adapt their form, function and metabolism to the surrounding environment. According to Tardieu et al., understanding the plant phenome requires that plant phenotypes to be studied on different spatial and temporal scales. High precision platforms are instrumental for discovery of new physiological mechanisms, but larger scale experiments are necessary to understand relationship to yield and interaction with environment. Once enough data is collected, the results can be used to develop models predicting plant phenotypes, generating new hypotheses, and revealing gaps in our understanding of how the plants work. In order to extend plant phenomics into the brave new world of big-data analysis, standardization of the protocols, data normalization and information provided alongside the experimental output is necessary. (Summary by Magdalena Julkowska) Curr. Biol. 10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.055