OpenPheno: an open-access, user-friendly, and smartphone-based software platform for instant plant phenotyping
Abstract Background Plant phenotyping has become increasingly important for advancing plant science, agriculture, and biotechnology. Classic manual methods are labor-intensive and time-consuming, while existing computational tools often require advanced coding skills, high-performance hardware, or P...
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| Format: | Article |
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BMC
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Plant Methods |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-025-01395-4 |
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| author | Tianqi Hu Peng Shen Yongshuai Zhang Jiafei Zhang Xin Li Chuanzhen Xia Ping Liu Hao Lu Tingting Wu Zhiguo Han |
| author_facet | Tianqi Hu Peng Shen Yongshuai Zhang Jiafei Zhang Xin Li Chuanzhen Xia Ping Liu Hao Lu Tingting Wu Zhiguo Han |
| author_sort | Tianqi Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Plant phenotyping has become increasingly important for advancing plant science, agriculture, and biotechnology. Classic manual methods are labor-intensive and time-consuming, while existing computational tools often require advanced coding skills, high-performance hardware, or PC-based environments, making them inaccessible to non-experts, to resource-constrained users, and to field technicians. Results To respond to these challenges, we introduce OpenPheno, an open-access, user-friendly, and smartphone-based platform encapsulated within a WeChat Mini-Program for instant plant phenotyping. The platform is designed for ease of use, enabling users to phenotype plant traits quickly and efficiently with only a smartphone at hand. We currently instantiate the use of the platform with tools such as SeedPheno, WheatHeadPheno, LeafAnglePheno, SpikeletPheno, CanopyPheno, TomatoPheno, and CornPheno; each offering specific functionalities such as seed size and count analysis, wheat head detection, leaf angle measurement, spikelet counting, canopy structure analysis, and tomato fruit measurement. In particular, OpenPheno allows developers to contribute new algorithmic tools, further expanding its capabilities to continuously facilitate the plant phenotyping community. Conclusions By leveraging cloud computing and a widely accessible interface, OpenPheno democratizes plant phenotyping, making advanced tools available to a broader audience, including plant scientists, breeders, and even amateurs. It can function as a role in AI-driven breeding by providing the necessary data for genotype-phenotype analysis, thereby accelerating breeding programs. Its integration with smartphones also positions OpenPheno as a powerful tool in the growing field of mobile-based agricultural technologies, paving the way for more efficient, scalable, and accessible agricultural research and breeding. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4e2c855f7df74dc78fa7a420f2a66ca3 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1746-4811 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plant Methods |
| spelling | doaj-art-4e2c855f7df74dc78fa7a420f2a66ca32025-08-20T02:05:13ZengBMCPlant Methods1746-48112025-06-0121111210.1186/s13007-025-01395-4OpenPheno: an open-access, user-friendly, and smartphone-based software platform for instant plant phenotypingTianqi Hu0Peng Shen1Yongshuai Zhang2Jiafei Zhang3Xin Li4Chuanzhen Xia5Ping Liu6Hao Lu7Tingting Wu8Zhiguo Han9National Key Laboratory of Multispectral Information Intelligent Processing Technology, School of Artificial Intelligence and Automation, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyCollege of Information Engineering, Northwest A&F UniversityPhenoTrait Technology Co., Ltd.PhenoTrait Technology Co., Ltd.National Key Laboratory of Multispectral Information Intelligent Processing Technology, School of Artificial Intelligence and Automation, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyKey Laboratory of Wheat Improvement, College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Shandong Agricultural UniversityKey Laboratory of Wheat Improvement, College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Shandong Agricultural UniversityNational Key Laboratory of Multispectral Information Intelligent Processing Technology, School of Artificial Intelligence and Automation, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyCollege of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Northwest A&F UniversityPhenoTrait Technology Co., Ltd.Abstract Background Plant phenotyping has become increasingly important for advancing plant science, agriculture, and biotechnology. Classic manual methods are labor-intensive and time-consuming, while existing computational tools often require advanced coding skills, high-performance hardware, or PC-based environments, making them inaccessible to non-experts, to resource-constrained users, and to field technicians. Results To respond to these challenges, we introduce OpenPheno, an open-access, user-friendly, and smartphone-based platform encapsulated within a WeChat Mini-Program for instant plant phenotyping. The platform is designed for ease of use, enabling users to phenotype plant traits quickly and efficiently with only a smartphone at hand. We currently instantiate the use of the platform with tools such as SeedPheno, WheatHeadPheno, LeafAnglePheno, SpikeletPheno, CanopyPheno, TomatoPheno, and CornPheno; each offering specific functionalities such as seed size and count analysis, wheat head detection, leaf angle measurement, spikelet counting, canopy structure analysis, and tomato fruit measurement. In particular, OpenPheno allows developers to contribute new algorithmic tools, further expanding its capabilities to continuously facilitate the plant phenotyping community. Conclusions By leveraging cloud computing and a widely accessible interface, OpenPheno democratizes plant phenotyping, making advanced tools available to a broader audience, including plant scientists, breeders, and even amateurs. It can function as a role in AI-driven breeding by providing the necessary data for genotype-phenotype analysis, thereby accelerating breeding programs. Its integration with smartphones also positions OpenPheno as a powerful tool in the growing field of mobile-based agricultural technologies, paving the way for more efficient, scalable, and accessible agricultural research and breeding.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-025-01395-4OpenPhenoPlant phenotypingSmartphone-based platform |
| spellingShingle | Tianqi Hu Peng Shen Yongshuai Zhang Jiafei Zhang Xin Li Chuanzhen Xia Ping Liu Hao Lu Tingting Wu Zhiguo Han OpenPheno: an open-access, user-friendly, and smartphone-based software platform for instant plant phenotyping Plant Methods OpenPheno Plant phenotyping Smartphone-based platform |
| title | OpenPheno: an open-access, user-friendly, and smartphone-based software platform for instant plant phenotyping |
| title_full | OpenPheno: an open-access, user-friendly, and smartphone-based software platform for instant plant phenotyping |
| title_fullStr | OpenPheno: an open-access, user-friendly, and smartphone-based software platform for instant plant phenotyping |
| title_full_unstemmed | OpenPheno: an open-access, user-friendly, and smartphone-based software platform for instant plant phenotyping |
| title_short | OpenPheno: an open-access, user-friendly, and smartphone-based software platform for instant plant phenotyping |
| title_sort | openpheno an open access user friendly and smartphone based software platform for instant plant phenotyping |
| topic | OpenPheno Plant phenotyping Smartphone-based platform |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-025-01395-4 |
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