Biology
Modern plant phenotyping, often using non-invasive technologies and digital
technologies, is an emerging science and provides essential information on how genetics,
epigenetics, environmental pressures, and crop management (farming) can guide
selection toward productive plants suitable for their environment. Thus, phenotyping is
at the forefront of future plant breeding. Bibliometric science mapping is a quantitative
method that analyzes scientific publications throughout the terms present in their title,
abstract, and keywords. The aim of this mapping exercise is to observe trends and
identify research opportunities. This allows us to analyze the evolution of phenotyping
research and to predict emerging topics of this discipline. A total of 1,827 scientific
publications fitted our search method over the last 20 years. During the period
1997–2006, the total number of publications was only around 6.1%. The number
of publications increased more steeply after 2010, boosted by the overcoming of
technological bias and by a set of key developments at hard and software level (image
analysis and data storage management, automation and robotics). Cluster analysis
evidenced three main groups linked to genetics, physiology, and imaging. Mainly the
model plant “Arabidopsis thaliana” and the crops “rice” and “triticum” species were
investigated in the literature. The last two species were studied when addressing
“plant breeding,” and “genomic selection.” However, currently the trend goes toward
a higher diversity of phenotyped crops and research in the field. The application of
plant phenotyping in the field is still under rapid development and this application has
strong linkages with precision agriculture. EU co-authors were involved in 41.8% of the
analyzed papers, followed by USA (15.4%), Australia (6.0%), and India (5.6%). Within
the EU, coauthors were mainly affiliated in Germany (35.8%), France (23.7%), and
United Kingdom (18.4%). Time seems right for new opportunities to incentivize research
on more crops, in real field conditions, and to spread knowledge toward more countries,
including emerging economies. Science mapping offers the possibility to get insights into
a wide amount of bibliographic information, making them more manageable, attractive,
and easy to serve science policy makers, stakeholders, and research managers.“Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia Agraria–Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni
Agroalimentari, Rome, Italy”Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2018.01933/full
Courtesy: https://www.frontiersin.org
Copyright: published: 07 January 2019 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2018.01933. Copyright © 2019
