Chinese cabbage seedling indoor phenotyping 2025

- Research hypothesis: Climate change poses a critical threat to vegetable production through increased heat stress exposure. We hypothesized that integrating non-destructive 3D multispectral phenotyping with traditional physiological measurements would enable rapid and reliable identification of heat-tolerant Chinese cabbage genotypes. This approach could establish high-throughput screening methods for breeding programs while reducing time-intensive manual assessment.
- Dataset overview: This dataset comprises comprehensive, time-series phenotypic and physiological measurements collected from 18 Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis) genotypes grown under two temperature regimes (control (25°C/20°C day/night) and heat stress (40°C/35°C day/night) conditions for 14days. Data integrates non-destructive phenotyping (3D multispectral LiDAR scanning (PlantEye F600) capturing plant structural parameters and spectral indices across multiple timepoints (Days 3, 5, 7 10, 12, and 14), Gas exchange measurements, destructive measurements, and visual assessment.
Data Collection Methods
- Experimental Design: 1) Growth stage: Seedlings at 3-4 true leaf stage, 2) Replicate: 3-4 replicates per genotype per treatment, 3) Treatment duration: 14 days continuous exposure
- Main findings: Principal component analysis of temporal phenotyping data explained 62-68% of variance, enabling quantitative assessment of phenotypic stability through Euclidean distance measurements in PC space. Temporal analysis revealed crop-specific response patterns with maximum treatment separation at 3 days after treatment (DAT) (ΔC=3.27), reflecting Chinese cabbage’s rapid heat sensitivity as a cool-season crop, followed by progressive acclimation by 14 DAT (ΔC=1.41). Under heat stress, plants prioritized evaporative cooling through increased transpiration (four-fold increase) over carbon assimilation. A critical finding was the disproportionate root vulnerability to heat stress. Strong correlations (r>0.8) between 3D imaging parameters and destructive biomass measurements validated the non-destructive approach’s reliability. Based on integration of phenotypic stability (Euclidean distances in PC space) and biomass production under heat stress, this approach identified four distinct heat tolerance strategies: stable-productive genotypes, stable-conservative genotypes, plastic-productive genotypes, and plastic-sensitive genotypes.