Crop Phenomics and High-Throughput Phenotyping: Past Decades, Current Challenges, and Future Perspectives

Area of Science:

• Plant science
• Genomics
• Agricultural science

Background:

• Whole-genome sequencing in crops is advancing rapidly, ushering in a big-data era for functional genomics.
• Acquiring large-scale phenotypic data remains a significant bottleneck for crop breeding and functional genomics research.
• Technological advancements offer solutions for large-scale phenotyping data acquisition and processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review progress in high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) for crop improvement.
• To discuss the integration of HTP with multi-omics and genetic studies.
• To propose strategies for bridging the phenotype-genotype gap.

Main Methods:

• Review of major advancements in HTP technologies for controlled environments and field conditions.
• Assessment of HTP applications in post-harvest yield and quality evaluation.
• Discussion of multi-omics approaches combined with HTP for genetic studies.

Main Results:

• Significant progress has been made in HTP for both controlled and field settings.
• HTP is increasingly used for post-harvest yield and quality assessment.
• Integration of HTP with multi-omics data enhances genetic studies.

Conclusions:

• Accurate high-throughput phenotyping is essential for accelerating plant genetic improvements.
• HTP plays a pivotal role in advancing crop breeding and promoting agricultural innovation.
• Bridging the phenotype-genotype gap through advanced phenotyping is key to the next green revolution.