The Plant Accelerator (currently being constructed) will be a world-leading plant growth and analysis facility based at the Waite Campus of the University of Adelaide. It will accelerate pure and applied plant science research Australia-wide and internationally. The high technology glasshouse, with over 1km of conveyor systems and state-of-the art imaging, robotic and computing equipment, will allow continuous measurements of the physical attributes (phenotype) of plants automatically and non-destructively. The facility will accommodate 160,000 plants a year in programs such as those aimed at increasing drought and salinity tolerance in wheat and barley. Research on other economically important crops such as grapevines will also be accommodated.

The Plant Accelerator serves as the national headquarters of the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility. Funding has been provided for The Plant Accelerator by the Commonwealth, as part of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), the South Australian State Government and the University of Adelaide.

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APPF movie (avi format, 58 MB)
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The Facility will contain:

• A range of controlled growth environments in new, high quality facilities
• Over 1 km of conveyors delivering radio-tagged plants automatically to state-of-the art imaging stations controlled by high capacity computing equipment
• Dedicated bioinformatics support to help manage and analyse data
• Equipment to image shoots in visible, near-infrared and far infrared spectra
• Equipment for fluorescence imaging of shoots
• Equipment to allow near-infrared imaging of pots to obtain a measure of water content in the soil
• Automatic programmable watering to weight of plants on the conveyor system

The Facility will enable non-destructive measurements through time of:

• Shoot mass, leaf number, shape, angle, and other morphometric data, and leaf colour and senescence using visible spectrum images
• Leaf water and carbohydrate content using near infrared images
• Leaf temperature using far infrared images
• Removal of water from soil in pots using near-infrared wavelengths
• Plant health by monitoring the state of chlorophyll using fluorescence imaging
• Fluorescent proteins such as GFP

Scientific applications include:

• Screening of mapping populations, mutant populations and wild relatives of crops for features of plant growth and function
• Forward genetic studies using large numbers of plants
• Thorough characterisation through time of particular lines of interest
• Alteration of plant growth and function to alter components contributing to yield potential
• Increasing drought and salinity tolerance of crops
• Increasing tolerance to mineral nutrient deficiencies and toxicities and biotic stresses such as fungal diseases