Leaf-GP

Leaf-GP, is a comprehensive software application for analysing large growth image series. So that multiple growth phenotypes in response to different treatments can be measured and cross-referenced over time. The software demonstrates that treatment effects such as the response to different temperatures between genotypes could be detected reliably. The developer demonstrate the usefulness and high accuracy of the software based on the quantification of growth traits for Arabidopsis genotypes under varied temperature conditions and wheat growth in the glasshouse over time. To serve a broader plant research community, we improved the usability of the software so that it can be executed on different platforms. To help users or developers to gain an in-depth understanding of the algorithms and the software, we have provided our source code, detailed comments, software modulation strategy, and executables (.exe and .app), together with raw image data and experiment results in the Additional files. The software, source code and experiment results presented online. Leaf-GP package provides an efficient and effective analysis platform for carrying out large growth phenotype measurements with no requirement on programming skills and limited requirements on imaging equipment. The developer followed the open software strategy so that it is possible to share and contribute jointly with the computational biology community. This software has confirmed previously reported results in the literature and produces a number of key growth traits that enhance the reproducibility for plant growth studies. Many plant growth and development experiments can be analysed by Leaf-GP under a range of treatment conditions. Our case studies of temperature effects and different genotypes or plant species are not limited. Natural variation in plant growth can also be analysed or images from plants experiencing mineral or nutrient stress could be equally well handled.