Who doesn't want to learn what's going on belowground? Plant root systems are critical for the overall performance and resilience to various stress types. Obtaining quantitative nondestructive data from plant roots is high on the list of many researchers in the plant science domain. Typically some data can only be obtained by destructive or artificial methods such as shovelomics and for insance rhizo plates. The quality and throughput of this data is often limited in dimensionality or restricted to a single timepoints.
Latest developments in X-RayCT enable users to nondestructively extract 3D root system data, in high throughput, from plants growing in pots with soil. Leveraging this technology opens a new World of potential to study the behavior and development of root systems. These new insights can be leveraged into various processes such as breeding, treatment efficacy and basic root research.