PathoViewer is a plant phenotyping system, intended for high-resolution multispectral imaging in a highly controllable environment. The system is composed of 6Mp - 16 bit camera mounted on a Cartesian coordinate robot, and can be used to monitor the effect of biotic (e.g. fungal pathogens) and abiotic (e.g. drought) stress on large numbers of seedlings and small plants up to 15 cm. Due to the highly automated sensor-to-plant principle, the spread of a disease  or the effect of a stressor can be traced throughout the plant in time. Additionally, PathoViewer allows phenotyping of small plants such as Lemna minor  or plant parts grown in multi-well plates with a resolution up to 10 µm.

Using a combination of RGB, Chlorophyll fluorescence, anthocyanin, NIR and GFP/RFP imaging, PathoViewer can visualize the impact of biotic and abiotic stress in multiple ways. Moreover, researchers with expertise on image processing within the LAMP research unit (and closely collaborating units) can be consulted to compute scientifically relevant measures from these images, thus reaching beyond the mere visualization of phenomena.

PathoViewer is installed within a highly controllable environment. Controllable environmental parameters include temperature, relative humidity and spectral profile of irradiated light (up to 1000 µmol m-2 s-1). Moreover, as plants are watered individually using an automated dispensing system, multiple water regimes can be applied simultaneously.