Advances in field-based high-throughput photosynthetic phenotyping

High-throughput phenotyping of photosynthesis is critical to continued improvements in crop yield. We review remote and proximal sensing-based phenotyping techniques and outline lessons, challenges, and opportunities facing photosynthesis high-throughput phenotyping. Gas exchange techniques revolutionized plant research and advanced understanding, including associated fluxes and efficiencies, of photosynthesis, photorespiration, and respiration of plants from cellular to ecosystem scales. These techniques remain the gold standard for inferring photosynthetic rates and underlying physiology/biochemistry, although their utility for high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) of photosynthesis is limited both by the number of gas exchange systems available and the number of personnel available to operate the equipment. Remote sensing techniques have long been used to assess ecosystem productivity at coarse spatial and temporal resolutions, and advances in sensor technology coupled with advanced statistical techniques are expanding remote sensing tools to finer spatial scales and increasing the number and complexity of phenotypes that can be extracted. In this review, we outline the photosynthetic phenotypes of interest to the plant science community and describe the advances in high-throughput techniques to characterize photosynthesis at spatial scales useful to infer treatment or genotypic variation in field-based experiments or breeding trials. We will accomplish this objective by presenting six lessons learned thus far through the development and application of proximal/remote sensing-based measurements and the accompanying statistical analyses. We will conclude by outlining what we perceive as the current limitations, bottlenecks, and opportunities facing HTP of photosynthesis.

Automated summary

High-throughput phenotyping of photosynthesis is crucial for improving crop yield. Gas exchange techniques have revolutionized plant research but are limited by equipment and personnel availability for high-throughput phenotyping. Remote sensing techniques offer the potential to assess photosynthesis at finer spatial scales. This review outlines the interests and advances in high-throughput techniques for characterizing photosynthesis and discusses the current limitations, bottlenecks, and opportunities facing this field.