High-Throughput Corn Image Segmentation and Trait Extraction Using Chlorophyll Fluorescence Images

Plant segmentation and trait extraction for individual organs are two of the key challenges in high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) operations. To address this challenge, the Ag Alumni Seed Phenotyping Facility (AAPF) at Purdue University utilizes chlorophyll fluorescence images (CFIs) to enable consistent and efficient automatic segmentation of plants of different species, age, or color. A series of image analysis routines were also developed to facilitate the quantitative measurements of key corn plant traits. A proof-of-concept experiment was conducted to demonstrate the utility of the extracted traits in assessing drought stress reaction of corn plants. The image analysis routines successfully measured several corn morphological characteristics for different sizes such as plant height, area, top-node height and diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, and angle in relation to the stem. Data from the proof-of-concept experiment showed how corn plants behaved when treated with different water regiments or grown in pot of different sizes. High-throughput image segmentation and analysis basing on a plant’s fluorescence image was proved to be efficient and reliable. Extracted trait on the segmented stem and leaves of a corn plant demonstrated the importance and utility of this kind of trait data in evaluating the performance of corn plant under stress. Data collected from corn plants grown in pots of different volumes showed the importance of using pot of standard size when conducting and reporting plant phenotyping data in a controlled-environment facility.