Biometrics Software
EZ-Rhizo

The Rhizo-II Root Biometrics Suite is a software package for Windows platforms that includes both a new version of the popular EZ-Rhizo program and Root-VIS, an application for visualisation and analysis of root system architecture (RSA) data acquired by EZ-Rhizo.

The software is ideally suited for developmental and phenotypic descriptions of individual plants and plant species, accessions, and mutants, and of growth under varying nutritional and environmental conditions. It facilitates new research perspectives in the areas of functional genomics, breeding and QTL analysis, and in predictive analysis of plant performance. The two programs share a common graphical user interface (GUI) and data can easily be shared between them using databases built using XML.

Background

The EZ-Rhizo application enables the analysis of images of roots grown on two-dimensional media such as agar plates. The program provides a semi-automated system for root detection, measurement of multiple parameters relevant to the root architecture, data storage and data analysis.

The Root-VIS application provides rapid and informative visualisations of comparative averages extracted from RSA datasets acquired by the EZ-Rhizo program (and other software); the program also produces numerical output, in a choice of formats, which can be used as source data for more detailed analysis elsewhere.

Terms of use

The Rhizo-II Root Biometrics Suite is available free of charge for use in academic research institutions; however, registration/activation of the software is required.  When publishing data collected, or analyses made, using the software, please cite:

Zaigham Shahzad, Fabian Kellermeier, Emily M. Armstrong, Simon Rogers, Guillaume Lobet, Anna Amtmann and Adrian Hills: “EZ-Root-VIS – A Software Pipeline for the Visual Reconstruction of Averaged Root System Architecture”  Plant Physiology, 2018, In Press (DOI: 10.1104/pp.18.00217; PMID: 29895611)

For enquiries and further information about EZ-RHIZO,
please e-mail ez-rhizo@psrg.org.uk