Abstract
Digital images for determining root traits have been analyzed using WinRHIZO, commercial software. A freeware ImageJ has been developed for the analysis but whether root lengths assigned to root diameter classes obtained by this method correspond to those estimated by WinRHIZO has not been confirmed. In this study, root lengths estimated using ImageJ were compared with those estimated using WinRHIZO. In ImageJ, the root lengths were estimated using a triangle thresholding algorithm that was valid for total root length in our previous study. For the small-diameter classes (<0.5 mm), the estimates obtained using ImageJ and the conversion factor 2/3, corresponded closely to the estimates obtained using WinRHIZO. For large-diameter classes (>0.5 mm), root lengths estimated using ImageJ were similar to those obtained using WinRHIZO without using the conversion factor. These results were valid for rice roots. In this report, we propose completely automated estimation of root lengths for roots in each diameter class by using ImageJ.
Highlights
Digital images for determining root traits have been analyzed using WinRHIZO, commercial software
The study showed that the root length obtained using ImageJ with the triangle algorithm and a conversion factor of 2/3 matched the root length obtained with WinRHIZO
With ImageJ, root diameter estimation was based on the number of deletions (Kimura and Yamazaki, 2001)
Summary
Digital images for determining root traits have been analyzed using WinRHIZO, commercial software. Estimation of root length and root diameter has been greatly improved by the development of image-processing software and high-resolution image scanners (Bouma et al, 2000; Kaspar and Ewing, 1997; Kimura and Yamazaki, 2001, 2003; Zobel, 2003). Another accepted protocol for estimating root length and root diameter is to use the new freeware package called ImageJ (formerly NIH Image), developed at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States (Kimura et al, 1999).
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