Phenomics-assisted breeding: An emerging way for stress management

Abstract

The challenges posed by several known and unknown biotic and abiotic stresses arising due to increasing population, global warming, and other potential climatic factors have severely affected the growth and yield of many agriculturally important crops. Abiotic stresses such as drought, flood, salinity, high temperature, etc. not only influence the physiology of plants but also accompany occurrence and spread of various pathogens, insects and weeds, which may sometimes lead to a famine-like situation. In this context, understanding the crops' response towards different stress conditions and the underlying stress resistance mechanisms has become a challenging task for plant breeder in breeding stress-resistant or climate resilient varieties. With the advent of molecular technologies and functional genomics over past decade, whole genome sequence of many crops is now available and has simplified the process of cloning and characterization of key genes governing important agronomic traits along with the physiological pathways underlying them. But to appraise the full potential of a genotype under stress condition, it is important to evaluate the response in terms of phenotypic behavior and the elements coordinating such responses. So, this post-genomic era has given rise to the need of advanced phenotyping tools for efficient utilization of the vast amount of genomic data in climate resilient breeding. The advanced phenotyping approaches use different imaging techniques that record interaction between plant and light which are transmitted, reflected or absorbed and provide measurements related to quantitative phenotypic traits with desired accuracy and precision. The various imaging techniques record the interaction between plants and light like photons, which are transmitted, reflected or absorbed and provide the desired level of accuracy and precision in measurements related to quantitative phenotypic traits. Visible light imaging, infraredand thermal-based imaging, fluorescence imaging, spectroscopy imaging, and other integrated imaging techniques are currently in use for precise phenotyping of crops under varied environments. The advanced phenomics tools measure plants' response to different abiotic stresses in terms of root architecture, chlorophyll content, canopy temperature deficit and other morphological traits along with disease and insect infestation with a great precision without taking much time and simplifying the germplasm screening process to a great extent. Hence, phenomics is an indispensable tool needed to bridge the gap between phenotyping and genotyping that is highly recommended to cope up the climate resilient varieties. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020. All rights reserved.