Colour-analyzer: a new dual colour model-based imaging tool to quantify plant disease

Area of Science:

• Plant pathology
• Agricultural science
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Increasing global population necessitates higher crop yields and reduced pathogen-induced losses.
• High-throughput screening of resistant genotypes and immunity-inducing agents is crucial for crop improvement.
• Accurate quantification of plant disease symptoms is essential for research and development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce Colour-analyzer, a novel web-based tool for high-throughput measurement of plant disease lesions.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of different color models (HSV and L*a*b*) for distinguishing infected plant tissues.
• To demonstrate the tool's capability in accelerating plant immunity research.

Main Methods:

• Development of a free, web-based tool named Colour-analyzer.
• Utilized both HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value) and L*a*b* color models for image analysis.
• Employed a* and b* channels of L*a*b* for lesion area and H and S channels for leaf area determination.

Main Results:

• The L*a*b* color model's a* and b* values effectively distinguished infected from healthy plant tissues.
• The HSV color model's H and S channels accurately identified leaf area against the background.
• Colour-analyzer provides accurate measurements of lesion size and percentage of infected tissue.

Conclusions:

• Colour-analyzer accurately quantifies plant disease lesions using a combination of L*a*b* and HSV color models.
• The tool facilitates high-throughput analysis, accelerating research in plant immunity and crop protection.
• Accurate lesion measurement aids in identifying resistant plant genotypes and effective immunity-inducing agents.