ArticlePlant methods2014
Rhizoslides: paper-based growth system for non-destructive, high throughput phenotyping of root development by means of image analysis.
Article in Plant methods, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- QTL meta-analysis of root traits in Brassica napus under contrasting phosphorus supply in two growth systems.Scientific reports · 2016Pooled it
- Advances in root phenotyping: high-throughput imaging, computational tools, and integrative approaches for crop improvement.Journal of experimental botany · 2026Review
- GrowScreen-Rhizo 3 - automated large-scale high throughput greenhouse phenotyping of plant root and shoot development.Plant phenomics (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Non-destructive monitoring of root biomass in hydroponically grown leafy vegetables: comparison between machine learning-based RGB and hyperspectral imaging.Plant methods · 2026Article
- Drought adaptation in spring wheat seedlings relies on coordinated deep root architecture and cortical tissue allocation.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Translating soil salinity to agricultural salt stress: Key salt-tolerance mechanisms for agrohydrologic models.iScience · 2025Review
- Phenotyping, genome-wide dissection, and prediction of maize root architecture for temperate adaptability.iMeta · 2025Article
- DIRT/µ: automated extraction of root hair traits using combinatorial optimization.Journal of experimental botany · 2025Article
- Prediction of Salicornia europaea L. biomass using a computer vision system to distinguish different salt-tolerant populations.BMC plant biology · 2024Article
- Germination Behavior and Geographical Information System-Based Phenotyping of Root Hairs to Evaluate the Effects of Different Sources of Black Soldier Fly (Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Dissecting chickpea genomic loci associated with the root penetration responsive traits in compacted soil.Planta · 2023Article
- Soil Protists Can Actively Redistribute Beneficial Bacteria along Medicago truncatula Roots.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2023Article
- High frequency root dynamics: sampling and interpretation using replicated robotic minirhizotrons.Journal of experimental botany · 2023Article
- Early root phenotyping in sweetpotato (PeerJ · 2023Article
- Recent trends in root phenomics of plant systems with available methods- discrepancies and consonances.Physiology and molecular biology of plants : an international journal of functional plant biology · 2022Review
- Recent advances in methods forPeerJ · 2022Review
- Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in plant roots research: a review.Plant methods · 2021Review
- A starting guide to root ecology: strengthening ecological concepts and standardising root classification, sampling, processing and trait measurements.The New phytologist · 2021Review
- High-Throughput Phenotyping: A Platform to Accelerate Crop Improvement.Phenomics (Cham, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- WinRoots: A High-Throughput Cultivation and Phenotyping System for Plant Phenomics Studies Under Soil Stress.Frontiers in plant science · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA quantitative characterization of root system architecture is currently being attempted for various reasons. Non-destructive, rapid analyses of root system architecture are difficult to perform due to the hidden nature of the root. Hence, improved methods to measure root architecture are necessary to support knowledge-based plant breeding and to analyse root growth responses to environmental changes. Here, we report on the development of a novel method to reveal growth and architecture of maize root systems.
resultsThe method is based on the cultivation of different root types within several layers of two-dimensional, large (50 × 60 cm) plates (rhizoslides). A central plexiglass screen stabilizes the system and is covered on both sides with germination paper providing water and nutrients for the developing root, followed by a transparent cover foil to prevent the roots from falling dry and to stabilize the system. The embryonic roots grow hidden between a Plexiglas surface and paper, whereas crown roots grow visible between paper and the transparent cover. Long cultivation with good image quality up to 20 days (four fully developed leaves) was enhanced by suppressing fungi with a fungicide. Based on hyperspectral microscopy imaging, the quality of different germination papers was tested and three provided sufficient contrast to distinguish between roots and background (segmentation). Illumination, image acquisition and segmentation were optimised to facilitate efficient root image analysis. Several software packages were evaluated with regard to their precision and the time investment needed to measure root system architecture. The software 'Smart Root' allowed precise evaluation of root development but needed substantial user interference. 'GiaRoots' provided the best segmentation method for batch processing in combination with a good analysis of global root characteristics but overestimated root length due to thinning artefacts. 'WhinRhizo' offered the most rapid and precise evaluation of root lengths in diameter classes, but had weaknesses with respect to image segmentation and analysis of root system architecture.
conclusionA new technique has been established for non-destructive root growth studies and quantification of architectural traits beyond seedlings stages. However, automation of the scanning process and appropriate software remains the bottleneck for high throughput analysis.
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