Automated screening platform for microscopic plant phenotyping

• Subject Area: Plant Sciences
• Term: Funded in 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 498397057

We apply for funding of an automated screening system for microscopic phenotyping of dynamic traits in photosynthetic organisms. The platform will consist of a set of four microscopes that are attached to a light shelf for incubation and a robotic system that transports the samples between cultivation and imaging stations. Two epifluorescence low-magnification systems for the automated imaging of large fields of view and two high-resolution confocal microscopes will enable microscopy-based genetic screens. Equipped with a liquid handling system, the platform will enable studying the effect of treatments or changing growth conditions. The key feature of this system is the full integration of cultivation, stimulation and imaging, which allows for time-lapse recordings of dynamic responses in hundreds to thousands of individual specimens in parallel.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Automatisierte Screening-Plattform für mikroskopische Phänotypisierung von Pflanzen
• Instrumentation Group: 7430 Analytische Bildauswertesysteme
• Applicant Institution: Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
• Leader: Professor Dr. Guido Grossmann