The five Nordic countries span the most northern region for field cultivation in the world. This presents challenges per se, with short growing seasons, long days, and a need for frost tolerance. Climate change has additionally increased risks for micro-droughts and water logging, as well as pathogens and pests expanding northwards. Thus, Nordic agriculture demands crops that are adapted to the specific Nordic growth conditions and future climate scenarios. A focus on crop varieties and traits important to Nordic agriculture, including the unique resource of nutritious wild crops, can meet these needs. In fact, with a future longer growing season due to climate change, the region could contribute proportionally more to global agricultural production. This also applies to other northern regions, including the Arctic. To address current growth conditions, mitigate impacts of climate change, and meet market demands, the adaptive capacity of crops that both perform well in northern latitudes and are more climate resilient has to be increased, and better crop management systems need to be built. This requires functional phenomics approaches that integrate versatile high-throughput phenotyping, physiology, and bioinformatics. This review stresses key target traits, the opportunities of latitudinal studies, and infrastructure needs for phenotyping to support Nordic agriculture.

• Klíčová slova
• Arctic, Nordic agriculture, climate change, crop phenotyping, functional phenomics, wild crops,
• MeSH
• fenomika * MeSH
• klimatické změny MeSH
• roční období MeSH
• zemědělské plodiny genetika   MeSH
• zemědělství * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Abies nordmanniana is used for Christmas tree production but poor seed germination and slow growth represent challenges for the growers. We addressed the plant growth promoting potential of root-associated bacteria isolated from A. nordmanniana. Laboratory screenings of a bacterial strain collection yielded several Bacillus and Paenibacillus strains that improved seed germination and produced indole-3-acetic acid. The impact of three of these strains on seed germination, plant growth and growth-related physiological parameters was then determined in greenhouse and field trials after seed inoculation, and their persistence was assessed by 16S rRNA gene-targeted bacterial community analysis. Two strains showed distinct and significant effects. Bacillus sp. s50 enhanced seed germination in the greenhouse but did not promote shoot or root growth. In accordance, this strain did not increase the level of soluble hexoses needed for plant growth but increased the level of storage carbohydrates. Moreover, strain s50 increased glutathione reductase and glutathione-S-transferase activities in the plant, which may indicate induction of systemic resistance during the early phase of plant development, as the strain showed poor persistence in the root samples (rhizosphere soil plus root tissue). Paenibacillus sp. s37 increased plant root growth, especially by inducing secondary root formation, under in greenhouse conditions, where it showed high persistence in the root samples. Under these conditions, it further it increased the level of soluble carbohydrates in shoots, and the levels of starch and non-structural carbohydrates in roots, stem and shoots. Moreover, it increased the chlorophyll level in the field trial. These findings indicate that this strain improves plant growth and vigor through effects on photosynthesis and plant carbohydrate reservoirs. The current results show that the two strains s37 and s50 could be considered for growth promotion programs of A. nordmanniana in greenhouse nurseries, and even under field conditions.

• Klíčová slova
• Bacillus, PGPR, Paenibacillus, antioxidative enzymes, phytohormones, plant carbohydrates, rhizosphere,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Despite the agronomic importance of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), the early-stage development of its taproot has only been poorly investigated. Thus, the mechanisms that determine growth and sugar accumulation in sugar beet are largely unknown. In the presented study, a physiological characterization of early-stage sugar beet taproot development was conducted. Activities were analyzed for fourteen key enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism in developing taproots over the first 80 days after sowing. In addition, we performed in situ localizations of selected carbohydrate-metabolic enzyme activities, anatomical investigations, and quantifications of soluble carbohydrates, hexose phosphates, and phytohormones. Based on the accumulation dynamics of biomass and sucrose, as well as on anatomical parameters, the early phase of taproot development could be subdivided into three stages-prestorage, transition, secondary growth and sucrose accumulation stage-each of which was characterized by distinct metabolic and phytohormonal signatures. The enzyme activity signatures corresponding to these stages were also shown to be robustly reproducible in experiments conducted in two additional locations. The results from this physiological phenotyping approach contribute to the identification of the key regulators of sugar beet taproot development and open up new perspectives for sugar beet crop improvement concerning both physiological marker-based breeding and biotechnological approaches.

• Klíčová slova
• assimilate partitioning, carbohydrate metabolism, developmental regulation, physiological phenotyping, sucrose accumulation, taproot development,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

One of the major challenges in agriculture is to ensure sufficient and healthy food availability for the increasing world population in near future. This requires maintaining sustainable cultivation of crop plants under varying environmental stresses. Among these stresses, salinity is the second most abundant threat worldwide after drought. One of the promising strategies to mitigate salinity stress is to cultivate halotolerant crops such as quinoa. Under high salinity, performance can be improved by plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB). Among PGPB, endophytic bacteria are considered better in stimulating plant growth compared to rhizosphere bacteria because of their ability to colonize both in plant rhizosphere and plant interior. Therefore, in the current study, a pot experiment was conducted in a controlled greenhouse to investigate the effects of endophytic bacteria i.e., Burkholderia phytofirmans PsJN on improving growth, physiology and yield of quinoa under salinity stress. At six leaves stage, plants were irrigated with saline water having either 0 (control) or 400 mM NaCl. The results indicated that plants inoculated with PsJN mitigated the negative effects of salinity on quinoa resulting in increased shoot biomass, grain weight and grain yield by 12%, 18% and 41% respectively, over un-inoculated control. Moreover, inoculation with PsJN improved osmotic adjustment and ion homeostasis ability. In addition, leaves were also characterized for five key reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging enzyme in response to PsJN treatment. This showed higher activity of catalase (CAT) and dehydroascobate reductase (DHAR) in PsJN-treated plants. These findings suggest that inoculation of quinoa seeds with Burkholderia phytofirmans PsJN could be used for stimulating growth and yield of quinoa in highly salt-affected soils.

• Klíčová slova
• Endophytic bacteria, Plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB),
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Increasing agricultural losses due to biotic and abiotic stresses caused by climate change challenge food security worldwide. A promising strategy to sustain crop productivity under conditions of limited water availability is the use of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Here, the effects of spore forming Bacillus licheniformis (FMCH001) on growth and physiology of maize (Zea mays L. cv. Ronaldinho) under well-watered and drought stressed conditions were investigated. Pot experiments were conducted in the automated high-throughput phenotyping platform PhenoLab and under greenhouse conditions. Results of the PhenoLab experiments showed that plants inoculated with B. licheniformis FMCH001 exhibited increased root dry weight (DW) and plant water use efficiency (WUE) compared to uninoculated plants. In greenhouse experiments, root and shoot DW significantly increased by more than 15% in inoculated plants compared to uninoculated control plants. Also, the WUE increased in FMCH001 plants up to 46% in both well-watered and drought stressed plants. Root and shoot activities of 11 carbohydrate and eight antioxidative enzymes were characterized in response to FMCH001 treatments. This showed a higher antioxidant activity of catalase (CAT) in roots of FMCH001 treated plants compared to uninoculated plants. The higher CAT activity was observed irrespective of the water regime. These findings show that seed coating with Gram positive spore forming B. licheniformis could be used as biostimulants for enhancing plant WUE under both normal and drought stress conditions.

• Klíčová slova
• antioxidants, biostimulants, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, plant probiotics, water use efficiency,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anions significantly accumulate during biotic and abiotic stress and cause oxidative damage and eventually cell death. There is accumulating evidence that ROS are also involved in regulating beneficial plant-microbe interactions, signal transduction and plant growth and development. Due to the relevance of ROS throughout the life cycle and for interaction with the multifactorial environment, the physiological phenotyping of the mechanisms controlling ROS homeostasis is of general importance. RESULTS: In this study, we have developed a robust and resource-efficient experimental platform that allows the determination of the activities of the nine key ROS scavenging enzymes from a single extraction that integrates posttranscriptional and posttranslational regulations. The assays were optimized and adapted for a semi-high throughput 96-well assay format. In a case study, we have analyzed tobacco leaves challenged by pathogen infection, drought and salt stress. The three stress factors resulted in distinct activity signatures with differential temporal dynamics. CONCLUSIONS: This experimental platform proved to be suitable to determine the antioxidant enzyme activity signature in different tissues of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous model and crop plants. The universal enzymatic extraction procedure combined with the 96-well assay format demonstrated to be a simple, fast and semi-high throughput experimental platform for the precise and robust fingerprinting of nine key antioxidant enzymatic activities in plants.

• Klíčová slova
• Enzymatic assay, High throughput, Physiological phenotyping, ROS metabolism, Reactive oxygen species,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

OBJECTIVE: Enzymatic fingerprinting of key enzymes of glucose metabolism is a valuable analysis tool in cell physiological phenotyping of plant samples. Yet, a similar approach for mammalian cell line samples is missing. In this study, we applied semi-high throughput enzyme activity assays that were originally designed for plant samples and tested their feasibility in extracts of six frequently used mammalian cell lines (Caco2, HaCaT, C2C12, HEK293, HepG2 and INS-1E). RESULTS: Enzyme activities for aldolase, hexokinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, phosphoglucoisomerase, phosphoglucomutase, phosphofructokinase could be detected in samples of one or more mammalian cell lines. We characterized effects of sample dilution, assay temperature and repeated freeze-thaw cycles causing potential biases. After careful selection of experimental parameters, the presented semi-high throughput methods could be established as useful tool for physiological phenotyping of cultured mammalian cells.

• Klíčová slova
• 96 well format, Aldolase, Enzyme assays, Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, Hexokinase, INS-1E, Phosphofructokinase, Phosphoglucoisomerase, Phosphoglucomutase,
• MeSH
• aldolasa metabolismus   MeSH
• buněčné linie MeSH
• buňky Hep G2 MeSH
• Caco-2 buňky MeSH
• enzymatické testy metody   MeSH
• fenotyp MeSH
• fosfofruktokinasy metabolismus   MeSH
• fosfoglukomutasa metabolismus   MeSH
• fosfotransferasy s alkoholovou skupinou jako akceptorem metabolismus   MeSH
• glukosa-6-fosfátdehydrogenasa metabolismus   MeSH
• glukosa metabolismus   MeSH
• glykolýza * MeSH
• HEK293 buňky MeSH
• hexokinasa metabolismus   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• metabolismus sacharidů * MeSH
• myši MeSH
• nádorové buněčné linie MeSH
• pilotní projekty MeSH
• studie proveditelnosti MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• myši MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• aldolasa MeSH
• fosfofruktokinasy MeSH
• fosfoglukomutasa MeSH
• fosfotransferasy s alkoholovou skupinou jako akceptorem MeSH
• glukosa-6-fosfátdehydrogenasa MeSH
• glukosa MeSH
• hexokinasa MeSH
• phosphoglucokinase MeSH Prohlížeč

Plant phenotyping platforms offer automated, fast scoring of traits that simplify the selection of varieties that are more competitive under stress conditions. However, indoor phenotyping methods are frequently based on the analysis of plant growth in individual pots. We present a reproducible indoor phenotyping method for screening young barley populations under water stress conditions and after subsequent rewatering. The method is based on a simple read-out of data using RGB imaging, projected canopy height, as a useful feature for indirectly following the kinetics of growth and water loss in a population of barley. A total of 47 variables including 15 traits and 32 biochemical metabolites measured (morphometric parameters, chlorophyll fluorescence imaging, quantification of stress-related metabolites; amino acids and polyamines, and enzymatic activities) were used to validate the method. The study allowed the identification of metabolites related to water stress response and recovery. Specifically, we found that cadaverine (Cad), 1,3-aminopropane (DAP), tryptamine (Tryp), and tyramine (Tyra) were the major contributors to the water stress response, whereas Cad, DAP, and Tyra, but not Tryp, remained at higher levels in the stressed plants even after rewatering. In this work, we designed, optimized and validated a non-invasive image-based method for automated screening of potential water stress tolerance genotypes in barley populations. We demonstrated the applicability of the method using transgenic barley lines with different sensitivity to drought stress showing that combining canopy height and the metabolite profile we can discriminate tolerant from sensitive genotypes. We showed that the projected canopy height a sensitive trait that truly reflects other invasively studied morphological, physiological, and metabolic traits and that our presented methodological setup can be easily applicable for large-scale screenings in low-cost systems equipped with a simple RGB camera. We believe that our approach will contribute to accelerate the study and understanding of the plant water stress response and recovery capacity in crops, such as barley.

• Klíčová slova
• Hordeum vulgare, amino acids, antioxidative enzymes, blue (RGB) imaging, canopy height, fluorescence, green, indoor phenotyping, polyamines, red,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

At the 4th International Plant Phenotyping Symposium meeting of the International Plant Phenotyping Network (IPPN) in 2016 at CIMMYT in Mexico, a workshop was convened to consider ways forward with sensors for phenotyping. The increasing number of field applications provides new challenges and requires specialised solutions. There are many traits vital to plant growth and development that demand phenotyping approaches that are still at early stages of development or elude current capabilities. Further, there is growing interest in low-cost sensor solutions, and mobile platforms that can be transported to the experiments, rather than the experiment coming to the platform. Various types of sensors are required to address diverse needs with respect to targets, precision and ease of operation and readout. Converting data into knowledge, and ensuring that those data (and the appropriate metadata) are stored in such a way that they will be sensible and available to others now and for future analysis is also vital. Here we are proposing mechanisms for "next generation phenomics" based on our learning in the past decade, current practice and discussions at the IPPN Symposium, to encourage further thinking and collaboration by plant scientists, physicists and engineering experts.

• Klíčová slova
• IPPN, Imaging, Metadata, Next generation phenomics, Plant phenotyping, Sensor development, Trait value,
• MeSH
• genomika metody   MeSH
• šlechtění rostlin * MeSH
• zemědělské plodiny genetika   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Designing and developing new biostimulants is a crucial process which requires an accurate testing of the product effects on the morpho-physiological traits of plants and a deep understanding of the mechanism of action of selected products. Product screening approaches using omics technologies have been found to be more efficient and cost effective in finding new biostimulant substances. A screening protocol based on the use of high-throughput phenotyping platform for screening new vegetal-derived protein hydrolysates (PHs) for biostimulant activity followed by a metabolomic analysis to elucidate the mechanism of the most active PHs has been applied on tomato crop. Eight PHs (A-G, I) derived from enzymatic hydrolysis of seed proteins of Leguminosae and Brassicaceae species were foliarly sprayed twice during the trial. A non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100 at 0.1% was also added to the solutions before spraying. A control treatment foliarly sprayed with distilled water containing 0.1% Triton X-100 was also included. Untreated and PH-treated tomato plants were monitored regularly using high-throughput non-invasive imaging technologies. The phenotyping approach we used is based on automated integrative analysis of photosynthetic performance, growth analysis, and color index analysis. The digital biomass of the plants sprayed with PH was generally increased. In particular, the relative growth rate and the growth performance were significantly improved by PHs A and I, respectively, compared to the untreated control plants. Kinetic chlorophyll fluorescence imaging did not allow to differentiate the photosynthetic performance of treated and untreated plants. Finally, MS-based untargeted metabolomics analysis was performed in order to characterize the functional mechanisms of selected PHs. The treatment modulated the multi-layer regulation process that involved the ethylene precursor and polyamines and affected the ROS-mediated signaling pathways. Although further investigation is needed to strengthen our findings, metabolomic data suggest that treated plants experienced a metabolic reprogramming following the application of the tested biostimulants. Nonetheless, our experimental data highlight the potential for combined use of high-throughput phenotyping and metabolomics to facilitate the screening of new substances with biostimulant properties and to provide a morpho-physiological and metabolomic gateway to the mechanisms underlying PHs action on plants.

• Klíčová slova
• ROS signaling, functional biostimulant characterization, integrative image-based high-throughput phenotyping, metabolomics, morpho-physiological traits, protein hydrolysates,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH