Abstract
Plants sustain human life on Earth, and feeding the growing world population without destroying our planet represents one of mankind’s greatest grand challenges for the coming generation. Innovative plant science will be at the heart of our efforts to meet this challenge. In order to meet the growing demand for food, feed, energy, and resources for the bio-economy, agricultural production will have to double in the coming decades. Current rates of agronomic advance, however, cannot keep pace with this future rate of demand. At the same time, production will have to become more resilient to climate change and more sustainable to reduce environmental impacts. The genetics of plants and their associated microbiome ultimately determine potential crop yield, agricultural efficiency and environmental friendliness. However, while the genome of a plant is relatively stable and fixed, the actual phenotypic characteristics realized - such as leaf shape, photosynthesis efficiency, resistance to various biotic and abiotic stress factors or plant vigour - are strongly dependent on the environmental context. In the past decade, rapid technological advances have led to major breakthroughs in the analysis of DNA sequences (genomes) of wild and domesticated plant species and their associated microbiomes. In order to now translate genome-based data into innovations in future-proof crops, it is essential to correlate hereditary traits – the genotype – to observed traits and physiological properties – the phenotype. Facilities to measure phenotypic properties at high throughput are essential for plant researchers to establish the necessary associations between genotype and phenotype. Finding such associations is critical to the development of the novel adaptive crops and cropping systems required for future food production, food security and ecological sustainability. The mission of the Netherlands Plant Eco-Phenotyping Centre (NPEC) is to provide scientists and breeders with a state-of-the art research facility to unravel the genetics behind the interactions between the environment and plant genes that determine plant performance. The integrated NPEC facilities allow accurate, high-throughput studies of plant performance in relation to relevant biotic (microbiome interactions, competition, disease) and abiotic (light quantity and quality, nutrients, temperature, moisture, soil pH and atmospheric CO2 level) factors across a range of scales. The NPEC facility comprises the following six complementary experimental modules: 1. Precision mesocosm-level ecotron module, 2. Plant-microbe interactions phenotyping module, 3. Multi-environment climate chamber module, 4. High-throughput phenotyping climate chamber module, 5. Greenhouse phenotyping module and 6. Open-field phenotyping module. NPEC is one integrated national facility housed across two locations close to each other, Wageningen and Utrecht. Its range of capabilities permits the direct comparison of detailed plant-microbiome interactions plus phenotypic data obtained under highly controlled conditions in growth chambers to those with the same genetic plant material grown under realistic agronomic conditions. By coupling modules that accurately vary and control both biotic and abiotic environmental factors with modules that permit high-throughput phenotypic screening, NPEC combines mechanistic and phenotypic research within one unique research centre. The Netherlands traditionally plays a prominent role in fundamental and applied research on plant genetics to increase yields and improve resistance to diseases, pests and other stress factors. Today, Dutch scientific institutions have a leading international role in plant genetics, plant-microbe interactions and ecology. The Netherlands is not only leading in plant sciences; also the related industries of plant breeding and agronomy are world class. Despite its small size, the Netherlands is the world’s largest exporter of plant propagation material in terms of value, and the world’s largest exporter of fresh vegetables and cut flowers. Because of this unique combination of strong science and industry, modern agronomy is at the forefront in the Netherlands, with the ’Horticulture & Propagation Materials’ and the ‘Agri & Food’ sectors being recognized as two ‘Topsectors’ of the Dutch economy. NPEC will be instrumental in consolidating and expanding the top position of Dutch research organizations in plant sciences and ecology, thereby ensuring a leading role in this societal important field for the years to come. With its state-of-the-art facilities, NPEC will be attractive to talent from abroad, and put Dutch researchers in a position to spearhead the research breakthroughs required to meet the critical challenges involved in improving plant production, food security and sustainable agronomy in our rapidly changing world. NPEC is also embedded into the globally leading Pan-European research community in plant phenotyping, which is presently shaped by European networking projects like EPPN2020 and the ESFRI project EMPHASIS.
Netherlands