About

The Plant Accelerator™ is a world-leading plant phenomics facility offering state-of-the-art plant growth environments and the latest technology in high throughput plant imaging for the repeated measurements of the physical attributes (phenotype) of plants automatically and non-destructively.

Digital imaging technologies, high capacity computing and robotics, supplied by LemnaTec, are combined to allow the automated, high throughput, non-destructive measurement of plant growth and function (“phenomics”). This allows the dissection of traits that contribute to, for example, drought and salinity tolerance and this can be carried out for large populations of plants.

The aim is to increase the speed and scale of physiological measurements, to enable genetic studies to be undertaken to elucidate the molecular basis of complex physiological traits. This facility provides increased opportunity to bring a genetic component into physiological studies.

The services provided by our team of experts enable national and international academic and commercial plant scientists to understand and to relate the performance of particular plants to the genetic make-up of those plants, so facilitating an acceleration of crops improvement - generating crops that are more productive, disease tolerant and viable on marginal soils.

Strategically located at the University of Adelaide’s Waite Campus, The Plant Accelerator™ provides users with access to a critical mass of expertise in plant and soil science including plant biotechnology, cereal breeding, sustainable agriculture, wine and horticulture, and land management.

The Plant Accelerator™ was established under the Commonwealth Government's National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) and serves as the national headquarters of the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility, which includes the High Resolution Plant Phenomics Centre in Canberra.

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Automated Imaging Technology

Developing new crop varieties to feed an expanding world population is one of this century's most challenging research imperatives. Australian scientists are being provided with the capability to take a leading role. Research into innovative high-yield and disease-resistant crop varieties will be driven at the two state-of-the-art phenomics facilities in Adelaide and Canberra, collectively known as the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility.

The Adelaide node of the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility, The Plant Accelerator™, offers:

• 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.
• 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.
• Professional consultation in plant phenomics and experimental design.
• Dedicated bioinformatic support with data management and analysis.
• Access to a critical mass of experts in plant and soil science located at the Waite Campus of the University of Adelaide.

The Building

The Plant Accelerator™ is a purpose built plant phenomics facility, which offers a range of greenhouses, high-throughput imaging stations, growth rooms, laboratories and seed storage space.

Its double glazed acrylic skin provides good insulation properties and transmits the entire spectrum of UV light, ensuring that internal environmental conditions in the greenhouse are as close as possible to those in the field.

The building contains 34 greenhouses in PC2 and non-PC2 areas ranging in size from 24m² to 48 m² and 72 m².

Fitted with evaporative and/or refrigerated cooling, variance in temperature in the greenhouse can be pre-programmed to reflect external conditions (e.g. cool nights, moderate mornings, hot afternoons).

Some greenhouses are designed for growing rice, whilst others are fitted with total block out screens enabling day lengths to be shortened. In addition, some greenhouses are quarantine approved to allow plant growth from imported seeds.

An award winning building

The design and construction of The Plant Accelerator™ has been recognised by the following awards:

• Australian Institute of Architects SA Chapter Keith Neighbour Prize for Best Commercial Building
• Australian Institute of Architects SA Chapter Commendation for Environmentally Sustainable Building
• Master Builders Association Commendation for Excellence in Commercial / Industrial Building $10-20 million
• Australian Steel Institute SA Awards: Steel Clad Structures – Steel Design Award

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Plant Imaging - Smarthouse

The building contains two large areas referred to as Smarthouses™, which offer a conveyor system and imaging stations (LemnaTec Scanalyzer) for the non-destructive phenotyping of plants.

A total of 2,400 carts can be transported at any given time on the conveyor system via five imaging chambers:

• Far infrared - Leaf temperature
• Near infrared - Leaf water content
• Near infrared (roots) - Soil water content
• Visible light (RGB) - Shoot mass, leaf number, shape, angle, other morphometric data,
  and leaf colour and senescence
• Fluorescence imaging - Plant health (state of chlorophyll)