META-PHENOMICS, HORTICULTURE AND THE VALUE OF PLANT TRAIT DATABASES

For a proper understanding of the long-term growth responses of plants to their environment it is indispensable to know the dose-response curves of a wide range of phenotypic traits, for the relevant environmental factors. A database is described that compiles the necessary information on a wide range of growth-related traits, unlocking the information that has accumulated in the literature over the past 50 years. Results for the 12 most important environmental factors are collected. With help of this database it is shown how general dose-response curves can be derived for a range of traits in response to differences in the quantity of light. The information obtained in this way can be used to model the growth of plants and - ultimately - to select for genotypes that are optimally adjusted to a certain combination of environmental factors.