New live analysis system for plant stomata, signals exciting progress in climate-change resistant crop development

Stomata, the holes on the surface of a plant’s leaves, are essential for controlling the exchange of gases between the plant and the atmosphere. Stomata with the right characteristics can increase a plant’s adaptability and resistance to challenging conditions such as drought, which may be a particularly desirable characteristic with the prospect of climate change looming. 

Selective plant breeding and genetic analysis are both methods by which plants’ characteristics can be adapted to their environment, but in order to make these processes work, it is necessary to identify specimens with the desired stomatal characteristics. Unlike larger parts of plants such as leaves or seeds, stomata have to be examined under a microscope, which is incredibly time consuming when performed by hand.

Scientists at Yokohama City University Kihara Institute for Biological Research and Nagoya University Institute of Transformative Bio-molecules (WPI-ITbM) have developed a new AI analysis method which allows the live imaging and simultaneous analysis of wheat stomata. By using a dedicated processing unit that analyzes the stomata as they pass beneath the microscope, this new system removes the previous greatest obstacle to rapid analysis: the need to store and process images via a separate server or computer system, which is time-consuming and expensive. The system is inexpensive and can be operated using equipment present in most modern imaging laboratories.

The principal application of this system will be in identifying plant specimens with desirable characteristics and using them to develop crops, both through selective breeding and genome analysis, which will be more resistant to environmental stressors such as drought in a future where climate change may outpace plants’ ability to evolve resistance naturally. As its development moves forward, it should also be able to be applied to other areas of plants whose characteristics’ visual analysis may prove useful.

It is hoped that the development of this system represents a significant step towards preventing future food shortages and ensuring that people in areas of the globe vulnerable to climate change are not left without viable crops.

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