https://icar2024.weebly.com/

Research Center website
Growth Capsule website
Growth Capsule-technical sheet

#SEBPrague2024
#FluorCam
#FytoScope160
#PlantScience
#Innovation
#ResearchTools

Experience high quality of measurements with its unique flat LED panel, which provides uniform illumination across
a 20 × 20 cm area, ensuring accurate and reliable results without shading effects. Whether analyzing small plants on our benchtop FluorCam 1300-C/2020 or larger specimens up to 1 m high in the stand-alone FluorCam 1300-L/2020, our systems are designed to meet diverse research demands.

Discover how the FluorCam 1300/2020 can enhance your research capabilities. Visit our website or contact us for more information, and explore the frontiers of plant science with confidence!

https://fluorcams.psi.cz/products/closed-flat-fluorcam-1300/

FC1300_technical sheet

#IPMB2024#PhotonSystemsInstruments

You can currently meet us on three continents:

Europe: ePS2 - 2024 in Padua, June 25-28
America: Plant Biology 2024 in Honolulu, June 22-26
Australia: IPMB 2024 in Cairns, June 24-28

Join us at these events and let's connect!
#PlantBio2024
#ePS2
#IPMB2024
#Photosynthesis

#PlantBio2024

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jezjakub/recent-activity/all/

https://www.noovo.info/video/des-serres-de-haut-niveau-font-leur-entree-a-luniversite-de-sherbrooke.html
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/tele/le-telejournal-estrie/site/episodes/914517/episode-du-2-mai-2024
https://www.fm1077.ca/nouvelles/623322/l-u-de-s
https://www.usherbrooke.ca/biologie/actualites/nouvelles/details/50581

It was truly a pleasure training with such a bright, proactive team. Their enthusiasm and skill set the stage for optimal utilization of the system. We're thrilled to see how it will enhance their research efforts.

https://www.mpipz.mpg.de/chromosome-biology

Explore more about the PlanTherm PT 200 and how it can benefit your research on our product website.

List of references for Plantherm PT 100

For more details about PSI FluorCams: https://lnkd.in/dGqUzxe7
LUKE: https://www.luke.fi/en , https://lnkd.in/d6aVN9cm
And finally, for more posts about the system posted by Alexey Shapiguzov please go to his profile: https://lnkd.in/d8qYvyD5

Looking forward to upcoming future cooperation.

https://plantphenotyping.com/products/

PSI - Photon Systems Instruments, is the world leader in development and manufacturing of cutting-edge instrumentation for plant and algae biotechnology. The company focus extends also to the rapidly progressing high-throughput phenotyping field, where PSI is recognized as a forefront innovator, contributing to advancement in automated plant and algae traits analysis.

PSI is a high-tech company located close to the industrial city of Brno, Czech Republic. The company has been an expert in manufacturing instrumentation for advanced measurement and imaging of optical signals in plants and algae for almost 30 years. As the first company to offer a chlorophyll fluorescence imaging system, PSI is at the forefront of digital image acquisition and processing. The instrumentation is used for monitoring a wide range of physiological signals from individual cells up to large areas of crop vegetation.

Currently, PSI's main product lines include: (1) devices for chlorophyll fluorescence measurement and advanced imaging; (2) handheld devices for monitoring chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics, plant reflective indices and spectral characteristics of natural and artificial light; (3) high-tech photobioreactors and other algal cultivators; (4) intelligent growth chambers and cultivation rooms; (5) LED light sources for cultivation and research; and (6) customized PlantScreenTM Phenotyping Systems and lab automation solutions.

In the past few years, we have combined our expertise in plant and algae science, robotics, engineering and software to develop the next-generation phenotyping solutions: PlantScreenTM Systems and fully automated phenotyping stations based on microplates and Petri dishes designed for automated phenotyping under controlled environments and in the field.
Our Research Centre is open for visitors, offering a first-hand experience of our cutting-edge technology in action. Additionally, we welcome potential partners seeking collaboration for their research projects or contract research initiatives.

https://algaeurope.org/.

#algae #microalgae #bioreactor #photobioreactor #monitoring #production #cultivation #biomass #screeninig #microplate #phenotyping #phenomics #lab_automation #LED_light_sources#robotic#labautomation #automation#science#technology#algaeurope

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alexey-shapiguzov-0746681b3_in-situ-measurements-can-be-challenging-activity

https://fluorcams.psi.cz/products/customized-fluorcams/

https://www.luke.fi/en

https://www.luke.fi/en/projects/kuka

Read more

Read more

http://www.nib.si/eng/
https://plantphenotyping.com/products/

https://psi.cz/services/research-center/
http://www.rustreg.upol.cz/en/
http://www.nib.si/eng/index.php/departments/department-of-biotechnology-and-systems-biology
https://adapt.univie.ac.at

http://www.eco-tech.com.cn/
https://plantphenotyping.com/products/
https://cnrri.caas.cn/en/

http://www.eco-tech.com.cn/
https://plantphenotyping.com/products/
Biotechnology Research Institute (BRI)

Video link

Read more about the NEWS from PSI Research Center and the CAPITALIZE project:

https://www.capitalise.eu
https://www.npec.nl/tool/five-htp-growth-rooms/
https://plantphenotyping.com/products/

Read more about the NEWS from PSI Research Center and the ADAPT project:

https://psi.cz/news/news-and-events/
https://adapt.univie.ac.at
https://www.meijerpotato.com/nl/
https://perfectplants.nl
https://growth-chambers.com/products/walk-in-fytoscope-fs-wi/

Watch video about HELIOS system: https://youtu.be/lZt2zCvFe7s

https://www.npec.nl/news/helios-high-throughput-shoot-phenotyping-of-plant-microbe-interactions/

To find more details about the plant-microbe interaction research done in Utrecht and the NPEC follow the links below:

https://www.npec.nl/tool/plant-microbe-interactions-phenotyping/

https://www.uu.nl/en/research/plant-microbe-interactions/research

https://www.usherbrooke.ca/sciences/recherche/centres/biologie/seve-amelioration-vegetale/

https://plantphenotyping.com/products/plantscreen-modular-system/

https://www.itqb.unl.pt/research/plant-sciences/plant-gene-regulation

https://www.itqb.unl.pt/research/plant-sciences/proteome-regulation-in-plants

https://www.itqb.unl.pt/research/plant-sciences/plantx

https://www.itqb.unl.pt/research/plant-sciences/plant-ecophysiology-and-metabolism

https://plantphenotyping.com/products/plantscreen-imaging-sensors/

Watch the video

More about Vienna BioCenter Core Facilities (VBCF) GmbH

More about UNTWIST project

PSI products

Stay tuned for updates!

This work is the result of our collaboration with many great scientists from Czechia and Italy:

• The group of Dr. Lukáš Spíchal from Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN) Palacký University in Olomouc
• The group of Prof.Luigi Lucini, from Department for Sustainable Food Process, DiSTAS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Piacenza
• Dr. Ioannis Spyroglou from Plant Sciences Core Facility of CEITEC in Brno
• Prof. Giuseppe Colla from Tuscia University in Viterbo
• Prof. Youssef Rouphael from the University of Naples “Federico II”

More info about IPK plant cultivation hall

In frame of ADAPT project we just finished in depth morpho-physiological characterization of potato adaptation mechanisms to single stress and combinations of multiple stress conditions. ADAPT will determine the molecular and phenotypical responses of potatoes to combined environmental stress conditions such as heat, drought and flooding, which are becoming increasingly important for potato yield under the challenging growth conditions of the future due to climate change.

By end of 2020 we successfully completed extensive phenotypical experiment conducted in frame of ERDF projects focusing on breeding of economically important crops with higher yields and greater resilience to adverse climatic conditions. Using our PlantScreenTM Modular System we quantified broad range of morpho-physiological traits along different phenological stages of barley, from germination to ripening.

We are thrilled to announce that PSI solidifies its position as a World’s leader in the development of plant science technology as we were selected as a supplier of high-tech facilities for the Netherland plant eco-phenotyping centre (NPEC) at Utrecht University on the basis of the submitted technological solution.

Some of the unique solutions will be presented separately in the near future and also implemented in our other devices and current products, so stay tuned.

After weeks of preparation and pre-cultivation, we just started phenotyping a large set of potato plants subjected to a range of abiotic stress conditions. In the frame of the ADAPT project, we will characterize the stress response strategies of potato plants cultivated under single or combination of multiple stress conditions.

More info about the PSI Research Center

Our team successfully finished installation of PlantScreen^TM system at UCD during last two weeks. System is designed for semi-automated phenotyping of plants, comprising PAM kinetic chlorophyll fluorescence, RGB and hyperspectral imaging units. This unique, modular block kit enables easy and cost effective future extension and full automation with addition of growth buffer conveyor system or application and imaging sections.

Dear IPAP Delegates,
The 4^th INTEGRATED PLANT AND ALGAL PHENOMICS MEETING (IPAP) was originally planned for July 12-16, 2020 but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was postponed until 2021. However, because of continued uncertainty concerning the longterm persistence of COVID-19 and the fact that restrictions on travel and gatherings may remain in place for longer than anticipated, we have decided to move the conference to year the 2022. We hope that by that time we may meet and exchange ideas in greater safety and without any restrictions.

We will, of course, inform you about the exact date of the conference and, in the meantime, wish you good health and success in your research endeavours.
With kind regards,

The IPAP 2020 Organizing Committee

We are very happy to announce that we just completed installation and testing of new x-ray imaging sensor into our phenotyping platform. We are going to explore the power of robotic Radalyx X-ray computed tomography imaging system manufactured by our partner Radalytica a.s. in automated plant phenotyping field. We aim to use X-ray imaging to uncover and characterize the inner structures of the plants or areas concealed by the leaf canopy and quantitatively asses the exact biomass of the stalks and ears. Further we are currently focusing on development of automated protocols for analysis of underground structures such as potato tubers.

Read more about PSI Research Center

For over 25 years, Photon Systems Instruments has provided the most advanced tools for plant science research, but our own scientists also work as partners with researchers worldwide. Now, in collaboration with colleagues from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich, and the John Innes Centre, our joint investigation into the mechanism of stomatal regulation is featured on the cover of the August 5th edition of EMBO Reports. PSI developed the screening method for arabidopsis using PSI’s automated PlantScreen^TM imaging systems for RGB, chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics, near-infrared and hyperspectral analysis, as well as supervising student research for six months at the PSI Plant Phenomics Research Center in Drasov. We welcome visitors to our Research Center, where exciting projects are always ongoing, and we are always open to new collaborations.

The first round of the barley experiment we did for Prof. Veronique Bergougnoux-Fojtik from UPOL University in the Czech Republic is done! After 3 months we completed screening of a barley landrace collection for the adaptation to water deficit. The 135 different genotypes were characterised by their physiological performance, growth dynamics, color, developmental stage characteristics, and yield. The plasticity of the stress response we could see was just amazing. A second round will start in August. Stay tuned!
The project is supported by ERDF project Plants as a tool for sustainable global development" (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000827).

Nitrogen, one of the main nutrients required for plant growth, is one of the major limiting nutrients in most agricultural soils. In tomato, nitrogen deficiency can decrease yields considerably due to a reduction in both the number of fruits per plant and the mean fruit size, together with a negative effect on fruit quality. In the frame of the PHOBOS project, we tested the effect of a range of protein hydrolysates on “MicroTom” tomato plants, grown in conditions of severe nitrogen deprivation. The morpho-physiological traits acquired with the PlantScreenTM Compact System will be integrated with the metabolomic data that are currently analysed in the lab of Prog. Luigi Lucini in Piacenza.

We are proud to announce that PSI will be one of the industrial partners of CAPITALISE, a European research project aimed at improving photosynthetic efficiency by identifying and using naturally occurring variation in three representative crop plants: tomato, barley, and maize. Led by Wageningen University (Netherlands), CAPITALISE is a multidisciplinary project bringing together plant breeders, scientists, and instrument developers from EU countries, the UK, Israel, and Ethiopia. Cutting edge automated plant phenotyping technology will be used for the integrated and dynamic assessment of plant performance and physiology, looking for desired traits. The results will be combined with genomics and molecular-physiological analyses, paving the way to a new generation of more efficient, high-yielding non-GM crops.

The CAPITALISE project is funded by Horizon 2020 under grant agreement number 862201.

You can follow the latest updates here:

The post-doc researcher Cintia Marchetti from the Department of Molecular Biology of the Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research (CRH)-Palacký University in Olomouc, is screening a barley landrace collection, spanning 20 countries, for their adaptation to water deficit, using the PlantScreen^TM Modular System in PSI. The study aims to identify new genes related to drought tolerance and yield maintenance in barley.

The project is supported by ERDF project Plants as a tool for sustainable global development" (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000827).

Want to learn more about the latest advances in the metabolism of guard cells and the role of stomata in plant growth regulation? We are very happy to announce that our work done in collaboration with the group of Dr. Diana Santelia in the frame of the IDP Bridges project was finally accepted for publication in EMBO reports. The manuscript "Glucose uptake to guard cells via STP transporters provides carbon sources for stomatal opening and plant growth" will be hopefully soon online. For the time being, you can check the short video prepared a methodological summary for the phenotyping protocol used to characterize the STP transporter's mutant lines.

PSI’s first large scale PlantScreen^TM phenomics system in North America has been installed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. We look forward to working with Dr. Gerald Tuskan and his team at the Center for Bioenergy Innovation. Exciting times ahead for plant research!

Less space in your laboratory, greenhouse, or growing chamber? Check out our “plug & play” solution of the phenotyping system for limited spaces PlantScreen™ SC System, which we manufactured for our customers in Bangladesh. We just completed the technical and biological validations of the system prior to the shipment of the unit to the customer.PlantScreen™ SC System is a compact solution for low-throughput applications with automatic sample loading, which can integrate different imaging sensors for comprehensive plant morphological and physiological phenotyping. The system we developed for our customers contains chlorophyll fluorescence imaging station and RGB Morphometric imaging station. So, do not hesitate to contact us at info@psi.cz for designing your own PlantScreen™ SC System according to your needs!

Our Ph.D. student Mirella Sorrentino has completed the second phase of the PHOBOS (Use of Protein-HydrOlysates as BiOstimulants of vegetable cropS: elucidating their mode of action and optimizing their effectiveness through a multidisciplinary approach) project, using the PlantScreen^TM Compact System for the functional characterization of new vegetal derived-protein hydrolysates (PHs) on leafy vegetables subjected to nutrient stress. Mirella has analyzed the effects of the 7 different biostimulants of plant origin on the morpho-physiological performance of lettuce plants subjected to nitrogen deficiency.

This week, we are training our dear customers and future users of the PlantScreen^TM Phenotyping System from Thailand at the PSI Research Center. The installation in BIOTEC will start in late March and therefore there is nothing to wait for!

Visit our colleague Jiri at Phenome 2020. He is looking forward to seeing you and showing you what is new in the field of Plant Phenotyping at booth #2!

In the frame of the PHOBOS (Use of Protein-HydrOlysates as BiOstimulants of vegetable cropS: elucidating their mode of action and optimizing their effectiveness through a multidisciplinary approach) project, our Ph.D. student Mirella Sorrentino is using the PlantScreen^TM Compact System for the functional characterization of new vegetal derived-protein hydrolysates (PHs) on leafy and fruiting vegetables subjected to salt stress. Mirella just finished the first part of the projects when she analyzed the effect of the applied biostimulants on the morpho-physiological performance of lettuce plants cultivated in control and mild salt-stress conditions.

More information about PlantScreen^TM Compact System

This week we attend the final conference of the Horizon 2020 funded project Solar Energy to Biomass (SE2B) in Porto. Solar Energy to Biomass – Optimisation of light energy conversion in plants and microalgae is the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program that will be finalized at the end of August 2020. PSI is one of the key industrial partners in the project.

One of the Ph.D. students of the SE2B project, our colleague Mirella Sorrentino, presented her work during the final SE2B conference in Porto. Mirella spoke about the latest results of her work related to the development and optimization of non-invasive image-based methods for high-throughput functional characterization of biostimulants in leafy and fruiting vegetables.

Read more about conference

PSI will install a climate chamber with two precisely controlled compartments and state of the art features like online control of environmental parameters through external weather station that can be deployed anywhere in the world or multi-spectral LED illumination. The climate chamber will contain the PlantScreen^TM Modular high-throughput phenotyping system utilizing cutting edge multi-excitation PAM kinetic chlorophyll fluorescence imager (first of its kind in whole Europe and Asia) and other imaging modalities such as RGB, VNIR/SWIR hyperspectral, thermal and 3D units.

Scientists from the Masaryk University are undertaking a polar expedition to Johann Gregor Mendel Station on James Ross Island.
They will monitor the impact of climate change on the Antarctic ecosystem – icebergs, permafrost, waterways or soils, and life from microorganisms to lower plants.
Among others, they are using our Monitoring Pen – PAM fluorometer designed particularly for continuous measurements under harsh environmental conditions.

For more details about the device, please find our webpage.

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new root phenotyping platform, with the first unit installed at the Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary.
This addition to PSI’s line of Plantscreen^TM Phenotyping Systems allows automated imaging and non-invasive analysis of roots and shoots of plants grown in soil-filled rhizotrons. The rhizotrons are moved robotically through imaging and watering and weighing stations, and are transported by a conveyor system to and from a growth area with precisely controlled environmental conditions.

The root/shoot screening system incorporates several unique features, including:

• Compatibility with standard PSI trays used with PlantScreen^{TM[sup/] systems.}
• Adjustable rhizotron angle for optimal cultivation of plants of different species.
• Stainless steel shading for light insulation of roots, removed electromagnetically only during imaging.
• Novel watering system to produce defined stable or variable soil moisture conditions during the experiment.
• Variable soil thickness adjusted according to requirements.

Check the article about the research of our friend and collaborator Dr. Robert Furbank (the director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, The Australian National University), dealing with possible ways how to contribute to resolving impending food crisis. And our Growth Capsules are used for this research!
PSI Growth Capsule is a unique solution converting a standard shipping container to scientific-grade growth chamber that can be transported and place anywhere around the world.

Read more

The second growth chamber – Step-in Fytoscope FS-SI 4600 – is now installed and fully operational at the Faculty of Horticulture of Mendel University in Lednice. The growth chamber has integrated RGB imaging system for automatic temporal analysis of plant growth as well as evaluation of morphological features and discoloration. As for the environmental parameters, maximum light intensity of LED illumination is 1500 umol.m[sup]-2.s^-1 and temperature can be set in the range from -2 to 40°C.

Read more about RGB Imaging System

This week our colleague Klára Panzarová attends the International Plant Science Conference Botanikertagung 2019 in Rostock, Germany! Come and meet her at our booth to learn more about our products and to see what is new in the field of plant phenotyping.
Read more

September 12th is the date when PSI celebrates its 25th anniversary! Over the years we have worked on thousands of projects all over the world, conducting research, designing/developing and manufacturing professional instruments for plant science, biotechnology, and agriculture!

We would like to thank all of our customers, partners and employees for the memorable last 25 years. We look forward to seeing where the next 25 years will take us!

From the PSI team to the world, thank you for being part of the journey!

We were delighted to be at the grand opening of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Agri-Tech (CEAT), The Australian National University.The director of our Australian operations Scientific Instruments Australia, Dr. Edhem Custovic and Dr. Mojmír Šerý from the Institute of Scientific Instrument, Czech Academy of Sciences were present, demonstrating the innovations and R & D work of our companies.

They showcased our work to numerous guests, including Nobel Prize Winner & ANU VC Professor Brian Schmidt, the ACT Government Chief Minister Andrew Barr and special guests from CSIRO, government, CBRIN, industry and the innovation ecosystem. Also present were representatives of the Vietnam Academy of Science & Technology.

Note: Our other Australian office is located at the Agri-Bio research facility, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.

This week our ladies are attending the 7th European Phycological Congress, 25-30 August 2019, Zagreb. Come and see them at PSI booth!
Read more

Group of master students studying Plant Sciences, Plant Biotechnology or Organic Agriculture from Waheningen University and their PI´s visited PSI Research Center in frame of the BUITEX Project. One of the activities organize within BUITEX are multiple day excursions abroad providing the students good view in the opportunities and companies in a foreign country different than the Netherlands.

The foreign excursion has the purpose to make students more familiar with foreign companies within the discipline of Plant Sciences and gaining more insights in career perspectives. PSI is, as world leading company providing automated phenotyping technology, the first company the students visit during their 2-week stay in Czech Republic.

Half a day workshop focused on introduction into current state of art in plant phenotyping technologies, overview of image-based sensors used in plant phenomics and overview of practical applications in abiotic stress research. Theoretical part was combined with practical demonstration and visit of two plant phenotyping platforms installed in PSI Research center.

Martin Trtilek, CEO & Founder of Photon Systems Instrument and Dr. Edhem Custovic have successfully commissioned new advanced plant growth & analysis technology "Growth Capsules" at Australia's top ranked institution, The Australian National University. We are proud to establish the presence of Scientific Instruments Australia (SIA) in the Australian capital city. SIA is an innovative company that designs, develops & manufactures instrumentation & software for plant science, biotechnology and agriculture. This follows on from the establishment of our facility at La Trobe University. By the end of 2019, we will also establish a consultancy in Bosnia & Herzegovina that will collaborate closely with all of these entities and allow young people to learn from the world's best!

PSI CEO Martin Trtilek, Director of our Australian operations Scientific Instruments Australia,
Dr. Edhem Custovic and Dr. Mojmír Šerý from the Institute of Scientific Instrument, Czech Academy of Sciences are in Brisbane, Australia attending the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis Conference on the theme "Innovations in Agriculture for Food Security". They are showcasing the innovative technology which we design, develop and deploy globally. Scientists can rest assured that we are providing the best technology solutions on the market. We combine world-class engineering, computer science with comprehensive understanding of the latest scientific trends and discoveries.

Read more

We attended the Eucarpia Leafy Vegetables Internation Conference 2019 last week.
The meeting was a part of a series of conferences organized by Eucarpia (European Association for Research on Plant Breeding) and was held by Palacký University Olomouc. The conference aimed to facilitate communication and discussion related to all aspects of leafy vegetable quality, from genetic resources to breeding, production, and postharvest handling.

PSI team is happy to announce that we have successfully finished the installation of PlantScreen^TM Modular high-throughput phenotyping system at the Institute of Biochemical Plant Pathology (BIOP), Helmholtz Zentrum München. BIOP explores natural defense mechanisms, growth and the efficient use of resources in response to environmental stimuli, focusing predominantly on molecular mechanisms allowing response and adaptation to biotic as well as abiotic stress.

Phenotyping system comprises growth buffer with the capacity of 980plants, adaptation tunnel, PAM kinetic chlorophyll fluorescence imaging, RGB imaging and precise watering and weighting station. System is equipped with customized LED light bars manufactured by PSI, enabling to provide irradiance up to 1000 µmol.m^-2.s^-1 with separate control of white, blue, red and far red channels.

Read article

"Shared Research Facilities (SRF) of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) has recently purchased a new mobile device suitable to automatically phenotype plants. The company Photon Systems Instruments (PSI) from the Czech Republic has developed the Robin PSI PlantScreenTM system based on specific requirements set by WUR. It has been installed at WUR’s location Unifarm, and it is the first device that has arrived as part of the new Netherlands Plant Eco-phenotyping Centre (NPEC)."

Read more

Last week our colleague Klára Panzarová was attending B·Debate called When development meets stress: Understanding developmental reprogramming upon pathogenesis in plants in Barcelona, Spain organized by CRAG, Centre for Research in Agricultural genomics, Excelencia Severo Ochoa, Biocat and Obra Social la Caixa. She was one of the speakers and presented PSI with a speech about Novel phenotypic approaches in quantitative analysis of biotic stress in plants.

PSI is proud to announce that we have been selected to supply a large-scale plant phenotyping system complex to be located at Biological Research Centre (BRC) Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Szeged, Hungary. The BRC is an outstanding institution of the internationally acknowledged Hungarian biological research. It employs about 260 scientists whose work is hall-marked by highly appreciated international scientific publications and patents. The research topics include several fields of molecular and cell biology from the industrial utilization of bacteria through controlled improvement of cultivated plants to the problems of human health and environmental protection. BRC is mainly a scientific basic research centre, but scientists of BRC play an initiative role in the foundation and promotion of biotechnological companies, as well as in educational duties.

PSI has designed a PlantScreen^TM systems tailored to BRC’s specific research goals. The PlantScreen^TM will be located in our Fytoscope walk-in growth room optimised for phenotyping applications under precisely controlled environmental conditions, and will be used by multiple research teams, including one under the directorship of Dr. Imre Vass of Institute of Plant Biology, to screen various species for growth characteristics, photosynthetic activity, biochemical status and resistance to stresses.

The entire phenotyping complex consists of customised PlantScreen^TM Compact System, PlantScreen^TM Root System that are both inside large growth chamber. The last part is a PlantScreen^TM Modular System which will be located in a Greenhouse.

Systems are fully automated and utilize cutting-edge imaging sensors. These include imaging stations for quantifying:

• Root and Shoot morphology and biomass accumulation (high-resolution RGB cameras, 3D laser scanning)
• Photosynthetic performance, stress tolerance and physiological status (PAM kinetic chlorophyll fluorescence with GFP/YFP imaging)
• Biochemical composition and concentration of pigments and metabolites (VNIR hyperspectral imaging)
• Stomatal conductance (high-resolution thermal imaging)

PSI’s Plantscreen^TM PSI’s Plantscreen^TM system is the culmination of decades of development in sensor technology, robotics, automation and software engineering conducted by the team of 100+ engineers, imaging specialists, plant research scientists and experts in optics at PSI.
Installation and commissioning of the PlantScreen^TM are planned for first half of next year.

PSI is proud to announce that we have been selected to supply a large-scale plant phenotyping system to be located at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, USA. Currently celebrating 75 years since its foundation, ORNL is a world leader in numerous research fields, including biology, energy and materials science.

In conjunction with its North American partner, Qubit Systems Inc., PSI has custom-designed a PlantScreenTM system tailored to ORNL’s specific research goals. The PlantScreenTM will be located in a greenhouse/headhouse facility optimised for phenotyping applications, and will be used by multiple research teams, including one under the directorship of Dr. Gerald Tuskan of the Center for Bioenergy Innovation at ORNL, to screen various species for growth characteristics, photosynthetic activity, biochemical status and resistance to stresses.

The PlantScreenTM consists of an automated conveyor capable of transporting thousands of plants between a cultivation area in the greenhouse and PSI’s suite of cutting-edge imaging devices. These include imaging stations for quantifying:

• Plant morphology and biomass accumulation (high-resolution RGB cameras, 3D laser scanning)
• Photosynthetic performance, stress tolerance and physiological status
(PAM kinetic chlorophyll fluorescence imaging)
• Biochemical composition and concentration of pigments and metabolites (hyperspectral imaging)
• Relative water content and water distribution (NIR imaging)
• Stomatal movement (high-resolution thermal imaging)

PSI’s Plantscreen^TM is the culmination of decades of development in sensor technology, robotics, automation and software engineering conducted by the team of 100+ plant research scientists, imaging specialists, electronics technologists and software engineers at PSI and Qubit Phenomics.
Installation and commissioning of the PlantScreen^TM are planned for June 2019.

That`s one small step for mankind, one giant leap for Photon Systems Instruments. Photon Systems Instruments together with NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration are looking for new customers throughout the universe!

Read the article from NASA`s blog

We are very proud to invite you to the THIRD INTEGRATED PLANT AND ALGAL PHENOMICS MEETING (IPAP), to be held this year in the beautiful and historic city of Prague between August 26^th and 29^th 2018.
The conference will focus on the rapidly expanding field of high throughput plant and algal phenotyping, and will feature an excellent program with speakers presenting data from laboratory and field studies derived using a variety of phenotyping platforms and techniques.

Read more

We are very proud to invite you to the SECOND INTEGRATED PLANT AND ALGAL PHENOMICS MEETING (IPAP), to be held this year in the beautiful and historic city of Prague between September 4^th and 7^th. The conference will focus on the rapidly expanding field of high throughput plant and algal phenotyping, and will feature an excellent program with speakers presenting data from laboratory and field studies derived using a variety of phenotyping platforms and techniques.

Read more

PSI developped and introduced to market a new VNIR hyperspectral camera with unique spectral resolution of 0.8 nm. Hyperspectral imaging has been used for many years to study patterns of plant growth from satellite imaging. This technology has been refined in PSI’s PlantScreenTM Phenotyping Systems to provide 3-dimensional hyperspectral data sets of plants on a pixel by pixel basis in spectral range from 400 to 2500 nm.

More information

By end of June 2016 PSI Research Center facility for automated high throughput phenotyping of small up to mid-size scale plants was launched. PlantScreenTM Compact System accommodates 320 plants that can be monitored during development for photosynthetic performance via kinetic chlorophyll fluorescence imaging sensors, for stomata behavior via thermal imaging camera and for morphological features and growth dynamics with three side RGB imaging system. The platform is installed inside of cultivation chamber with precisely controlled environmental conditions and will be used as service platform with professional support to scientific community for plant cultivation and image-based monitoring in controlled environment.

Recently we installed the PlantScreen^TM Modular phenotyping system at Kasetsart University in Thailand. The system consist of chlorophyll fluorescence measuring unit, side view thermal imaging unit, VNIR hyperspectral imaging unit, automatic watering and weighing station and growing buffers for 350 plants with height up to 1.2 meters.

First installation of this year was done at Tel-Aviv University in Israel. The PlantScreen^TM Compact System for high-throughput plant phenotyping contains FluorCam imaging unit for chlorophyll fluorescence acquisition and GFP measurement, RGB morphometric imaging unit from 3 different sides, NIR imaging unit for plant water status investigation, automatic watering and weighing station and adaptation chamber for accommodating of 240 plants.

In summer, PSI Research Center was founded and during the coming 12 months will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for plant and algae cultivation and monitoring. PSI Research Center provides service platform with professional support to scientific community for plant cultivation and image-based monitoring in controlled environment and in greenhouses.

First Integrated Plant and Algal Phenomics Meeting (IPAP) was organized in Prague and Drasov in June 2015.

See photo archive from 2015 Meeting here

PSI presented a new line of Phenotyping systems – PlantScreen^TM Modular System, which integrates robotic solution for high-precision digital plant phenotyping and plant cultivation of mid-scale size up to large plants (e.g., corn, wheat) in greenhouses or semi-controlled environment.

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New generation of highly sensitive chlorophyll fluorescence CCD camera was introduced.

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PlantScreen^TM Modular System for small and mid-sized plants was installed at Aberystwyth University in United Kingdom. In the system are built in chlorophyll fluorescence imaging unit FluorCam, RGB morphometric imaging unit from two sides and automatic watering and weighing station. Installation is placed in the glasshouse, where the part of the system are also growing buffers for 2000 plants, which are automatically delivered to the imaging units.