We are harming flora by not just cutting them down but also by poisonous emissions. To fight climate change and keep the global temperature in check, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has made it quite clear that carbon removal is a must. In line with this, Scientists at Salk are creating carbon capture plants with AI while enhancing plants’ root systems. This optimization is intended to increase the quantity of carbon stored and prolong how long it stays stored.

A unique collaboration at Salk is using smart software called SLEAP to look at plant characteristics. This helps in making plants that fight climate change develop faster. SLEAP is an easy-to-use computer program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor different features of root growth. Initially, it was created by Salk Fellow Talmo Pereira to follow how animals move in labs. But now, Pereira and plant scientist Professor Wolfgang Busch from Salk are working on using SLEAP for plants.

Busch, who is the Hess Chair in Plant Science at Salk, said, “We have already been able to create the most extensive catalog of plant root system phenotypes to date, which is really accelerating our research to create carbon-capturing plants that fight climate change. SLEAP has been so easy to apply and use, thanks to Talmo’s professional software design, and it’s going to be an indispensable tool in my lab moving forward.”

How is SLEAP Better?

What makes SLEAP different is its innovative use of both computer vision (the ability of computers to understand images) and deep learning (a type of AI approach that trains computers to learn as well as work like the human brain). This combination lets researchers analyze images without going through each pixel manually. Instead, they can just skip this time-consuming step and directly move from the image to identifying specific plant features.

Elizabeth Berrigan, a bioinformatics analyst in Busch’s lab and a first author of the study, said, “We created a robust protocol validated in multiple plant types that cuts down on analysis time and human error, while emphasizing accessibility and ease-of-use—and it required no changes to the actual SLEAP software.”

The researchers didn’t alter the core technology of SLEAP, what they did was develop a downloadable toolkit named sleap-roots (accessible as open-source software here). With sleap-roots, SLEAP can be used to study biological traits of root systems such as depth, mass, and growth angle.

This, along with the extensive genome sequencing efforts to understand genotype data in many crop varieties can let scientists use phenotypic data (such as a plant’s deep root system) to uncover the genes responsible for creating such traits.

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Highlights

  • With this new way of using SLEAP it is possible to study how deep and wide plants grow. how big their root systems get, along with other physical traits.
  • Its use on plants has helped researchers create the biggest collection of plant root system phenotypes ever.
  • Moreover, keeping an eye on these physical root characteristics helps scientists identify genes associated with these traits.
  • They can analyze whether multiple traits are controlled by the same genes or if they are independent.
  • This helps the Salk team figure out which genes are most useful for their plant designs.

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Influence of SLEAP on Plant Breeding

The Salk team tested the sleap-roots package on various plants. This included important crops like soybeans, rice, and canola, as well as the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana—a flowering weed in the mustard family.

  • Across all these plants, they found that the new SLEAP-based method performed better compared to the existing methods.
  • It classified data 1.5x faster, trained the AI model 10x faster, and even predicted plant structure on new data 10x faster.
  • It performed all functions while maintaining and/or even improving accuracy.

This step of connecting physical traits (phenotype) and genetic makeup (genotype) is much needed for Salk’s aim of developing plants that can store more carbon for longer periods. These plants need stronger and deeper root systems. By using this efficient and precise software, the Harnessing Plants Initiative will be able to link desired phenotypes to specific genes with revolutionary ease and speed.

Scientists at Salk are Creating Carbon Capture Plants with AI: Next Steps

While developing both SLEAP and sleap-roots, Pereira prioritized accessibility and reproducibility. Since the software and sleap-roots toolkit is freely available, researchers are eager to see how sleap-roots will be utilized globally. They have already begun discussions with NASA scientists for using the tool not only for guiding carbon sequestering plants on Earth but also for analyzing plants in space.

The collaborative team at Salk also isn’t disbanding soon. It is ready to take on a new and innovative task—using SLEAP to analyze 3D data. They plan to keep improving, broadening, and sharing SLEAP and sleap-roots for years to come. However, even now, their application in Salk’s Harnessing Plants Initiative is already speeding up plant designs. It is contributing to the Institute’s efforts against climate change.

Source: AI helps Scientists Engineer Plants to Fight Climate Change

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Elliot is a passionate environmentalist and blogger who has dedicated his life to spreading awareness about conservation, green energy, and renewable energy. With a background in environmental science, he has a deep understanding of the issues facing our planet and is committed to educating others on how they can make a difference.

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