DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5vm
title: Data from: In situ foliar augmentation of multiple species for optical phenotyping and bioengineering using soft robotics

description: Precision agriculture aims to increase crop yield while reducing the use
 of harmful chemicals (e.g., pesticides, excess fertilizer) by employing
 minimal, tailored interventions. These strategies, however, are limited by
 (i) sensor quality, which typically relies on visual plant expressions,
 and (ii) the manual, destructive nature of many non-visual measurement
 methods, such as the Scholander pressure bomb. By automating more intimate
 interactions with foliage, in vivo, it would be possible to inject
 chemical and biological probes that reveal more phenotypes, such as water
 stress in response to varying environmental conditions, and visible gene
 expression to measure the success of gene engineering applications. To
 address this, we developed a soft robotic leaf gripper and
 stamping-injection method to improve foliar delivery of nanoscale
 synthetic and biological probes. This allows for non-destructive, in situ,
 multi-species applications. We used two probes: (i) Agrobacterium
 tumefaciens carrying the RUBY gene as a reporter system for plant
 transformation, and (ii) nanoparticle hydrogels for measuring leaf water
 potential (ψ). Our hourglass-shaped design enabled the gripper to achieve
 higher forces with reduced radial expansion, resulting in an injection
 success rate above 91%. Studies on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and
 cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) showed our method achieved an average
 12-fold increase in infiltration areas, with significantly less leaf
 damage—3.6% in sunflower and none in cotton—compared to the needle-free
 syringe method. Enabling long periods of successful in vivo phenotyping on
 both species following precise and safe foliar delivery underscores the
 potential of the leaf gripper for robotic plant bioengineering.
description: # Data from: In situ foliar augmentation of multiple species for optical
 phenotyping and bioengineering using soft robotics Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5vm](10.5061/dryad.9kd51c5vm) ## Description of the
 data and file structure Includes: * PICTURES/MOVIES: 1. Actuator Blocking
 Force Pictures 2. Actuator Elongation Pictures 3. Actuator Profile Movie
 4. Agroinfiltration Pictures 5. Confocal Microscopy Pictures 6. Cotton
 Injection-Injury Pictures 7. Sunflower Injection-Injury Pictures - DATASET
 & MATLAB Scripts: 1. Actuator Optimization Dataset 2. Injection area
 and porometer Dataset 3. Spectrometer Dataset 4. Spectrophotometer Dataset
 ### Files and variables Note: All the folders have respective README file
 which describes the respective files. #### File:
 Actuator_Optimization_Dataset.zip **Description:** ANSYS simulation
 results for 800 cases, along with a MATLAB script for generating the
 surface optimization plot. #### File: Actuator_Blocking_Force_Pictures.zip
 **Description:** Pictures of the soft actuator blocking force test for a
 pressure range of 0 to 13 psi. #### File: Actuator_Elongation_Pictures.zip
 **Description:** Images from the soft actuator elongation test for a
 pressure range of 0 to 8 psi. #### File: Confocal_Microscopy_Pictures.zip
 **Description:** Confocal microscopy images of a leaf injected with
 AquaDust. #### File: Agroinfiltration_Pictures.zip **Description:** Photos
 of 0DPI taken after agroinfiltration, along with images of 3DPI displaying
 betalain pigmentation. #### File: Actuator_Profile_Movie.zip
 **Description:** The movie demonstrates the stamping profile of the soft
 actuator. #### File: Injection_area_and_porometer_Dataset.zip
 **Description:** Dataset of injection areas and promoter measurements,
 along with a MATLAB script for plant characterization plots. #### File:
 Spectrophotometer_Dataset.zip **Description:** Dataset of
 spectrophotometer measurements and MATLAB script displaying the plot of
 changes in leaf reflectance and absorbtion. #### File:
 Cotton_Injection-Injury_Pictures.zip **Description:** Injection photos
 taken immediately after the injection and subsequent leaf injury images
 for the cotton plant. #### File: Sunflower_Injection-Injury_Pictures.zip
 **Description:** Injection photos taken immediately after the injection
 and subsequent leaf injury images for the sunflower plant. #### File:
 Spectrometer_Dataset.zip **Description:** Dataset of spectrometer
 measurements and MATLAB script for the plot illustrating the change in
 FRET levels. ## Code/software The provided scripts were originally written
 in MATLAB, which requires a commercial license. However, the code can be
 adapted for use with open-source programming languages such as Python, by
 converting MATLAB functions and library calls to their Python equivalents
 and ensuring the syntax is appropriately adjusted. ## Access information
 Other publicly accessible locations of the data: * None Data was derived
 from the following sources: * None