A Comprehensive Approach to Assess Arabidopsis Survival Phenotype in Water-Limited Condition Using a Non-invasive High-Throughput Phenomics Platform

With the rapid rise in global population and the challenges caused by climate changes, the maximization of plant productivity and the development of sustainable agriculture strategies are vital for food security. One of the resources more affected in this new environment will be the limitation of water. In this study, we describe the use of non-invasive technologies exploiting sensors for visible, fluorescent, and near-infrared lights to accurately screen survival phenotypes in Arabidopsis thaliana exposed to water-limited conditions. We implemented two drought protocols and a robust analysis methodology that enabled us to clearly assess the wilting or dryness status of the plants at different time points using a phenomics platform. In conclusion, our approach has shown to be very accurate and suitable for experiments where hundred of samples have to be screened making a manual evaluation unthinkable. This approach can be used not only in functional genomics studies but also in agricultural applications.