WinRoots: A High-Throughput Cultivation and Phenotyping System for Plant Phenomics Studies Under Soil Stress

Soil stress, such as salinity, is a primary cause of global crop yield reduction. Existing crop phenotyping platforms cannot fully meet the specific needs of phenomics studies of plant response to soil stress in terms of throughput, environmental controllability, or root phenotypic acquisition. Here, we report the WinRoots, a low-cost and high-throughput plant soil cultivation and phenotyping system that can provide uniform, controlled soil stress conditions and accurately quantify the whole-plant phenome, including roots. Using soybean seedlings exposed to salt stress as an example, we demonstrate the uniformity and controllability of the soil environment in this system. A high-throughput multiple-phenotypic assay among 178 soybean cultivars reveals that the cotyledon character can serve as a non-destructive indicator of the whole-seedling salt tolerance. Our results demonstrate that WinRoots is an effective tool for high-throughput plant cultivation and soil stress phenomics studies.

Automated summary

Soil stress, such as salinity, is a primary factor leading to reduced crop yields worldwide. However, existing tools for studying plant responses to soil stress are inadequate. In this study, a low-cost and high-throughput plant soil cultivation and phenotyping system called WinRoots was developed. This system provides uniform and controlled soil stress conditions and accurately measures the overall phenotypes of plants, including their roots.