Data from: Accelerated high-throughput imaging and phenotyping system for small organisms

Studying the complex web of interactions in biological communities
requires large multifactorial experiments with sufficient statistical
power. Automation tools reduce the time and labor associated with setup,
data collection, and analysis in experiments that untangle these webs. We
developed tools for high-throughput experimentation (HTE) in duckweeds,
small aquatic plants that are amenable to autonomous experimental
preparation and image-based phenotyping. We showcase the abilities of our
HTE system in a study with 6,000 experimental units grown across 2,000
treatments. These automated tools facilitated the collection and analysis
of time-resolved growth data, which revealed finer dynamics of
plant-microbe interactions across environmental gradients. Altogether, our
HTE system can run experiments with up to 11,520 experimental units and
can be adapted for other small organisms.