Comparative high-throughput phenotyping across two facilities reveals differential impact of defence mechanisms on plant growth and development.
Poque, S.; Sandroni, M. A.; Garcia Caparros, P.; Westergaard, J. C.; Mouhu, K.; Ferdous, M.-E.-M.; Andreasson, E.; Grenville-Briggs, L. J.; Lankinen, A.; Roitsch, T.; Himanen, K. I. H.; Alexandersson, E.
Show abstract
Fitness costs of plant disease defence are often subtle and difficult to quantify. In this study, we therefore used comparative high-throughput phenotyping in two independent facilities to assess growth, morphology and physiology of potato (cv. Desiree) with high time-resolution monitoring different defence mechanisms under pathogen-free conditions. Plants were either treated weekly with the resistance inducers {beta}-aminobutyric acid (BABA; 10 mM) or potassium phosphite (KPhi; 36 mM) or comprised six transgenic lines expressing late blight resistance genes (single Rpi genes or a three-gene stack) or reduced jasmonate perception (StCOI1-RNAi). Over four weeks, image-derived traits revealed consistent cross-facility effects for plant height and colour: BABA treatment increased plant height but reduced canopy area and induced a paler greenness signature, whereas KPhi caused minimal and transient growth effects. Chlorophyll fluorescence at the NaPPI facility indicated reduced vitality (Rfd_Lss) in BABA-treated plants and increased Rfd_Lss following KPhi, while maximum PSII efficiency was largely unchanged. Several transgenic lines showed somewhat reduced above-ground biomass. Enzyme activity profiling produced distinct treatment and genotype signatures, but was strongly modulated by facility conditions that overrode these specificities. Overall, high-throughput phenotyping robustly detected subtle growth-defence trade-offs across platforms. HighlightHigh-throughput optical phenotyping validated across two independent research facilities reveals that stacked resistance genes and resistance inducers in potato trigger subtle growth trade-offs. Graphical abstracts O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=97 SRC="FIGDIR/small/713143v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (23K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@89df47org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1a1ce64org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1f52f0dorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1e41c35_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG Experimental timeline for high-throughput plant phenotyping platforms. Created in BioRender. Poque, S. (2026) https://BioRender.com/nmkve7g
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