Changes in sulphate uptake and accumulation along the primary root during tissue differentiation

Increasing the understanding genetic basis of the variability in root system architecture (RSA) is essential to improve resource-use efficiency in agriculture systems and to develop climate-resilient crop cultivars. Roots being underground, their direct observation and detailed characterization are challenging. Here, were characterized twelve RSA-related traits in a panel of 137 early maturing soybean lines (Canadian soybean core collection) using rhizoboxes and two-dimensional imaging. Significant phenotypic variation (P < 0.001) was observed among these lines for different RSA-related traits. This panel was genotyped with 2.18 million genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using a combination of genotyping-by-sequencing and whole-genome sequencing. A total of 10 quantitative trait locus (QTL) regions were detected for root total length and primary root diameter through a comprehensive genome-wide association study. These QTL regions explained from 15 to 25% of the phenotypic variation and contained two putative candidate genes with homology to genes previously reported to play a role in RSA in other species. These genes can serve to accelerate future efforts aimed to dissect genetic architecture of RSA and breed more resilient varieties.

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High throughput phenotyping of root growth dynamics, lateral root formation, root architecture and root hair development enabled by PlaRoM

Functional Plant Biology ◽

10.1071/fp09167 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 36 (11) ◽

pp. 938 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Nima Yazdanbakhsh ◽

Joachim Fisahn

Keyword(s):

Root Growth ◽

Growth Kinetics ◽

Lateral Root ◽

Root Architecture ◽

Imaging Techniques ◽

Plant Root ◽

Primary Root ◽

Growth Media ◽

Root Extension ◽

Lateral Root Development

Plant organ phenotyping by non-invasive video imaging techniques provides a powerful tool to assess physiological traits and biomass production. We describe here a range of applications of a recently developed plant root monitoring platform (PlaRoM). PlaRoM consists of an imaging platform and a root extension profiling software application. This platform has been developed for multi parallel recordings of root growth phenotypes of up to 50 individual seedlings over several days, with high spatial and temporal resolution. PlaRoM can investigate root extension profiles of different genotypes in various growth conditions (e.g. light protocol, temperature, growth media). In particular, we present primary root growth kinetics that was collected over several days. Furthermore, addition of 0.01% sucrose to the growth medium provided sufficient carbohydrates to maintain reduced growth rates in extended nights. Further analysis of records obtained from the imaging platform revealed that lateral root development exhibits similar growth kinetics to the primary root, but that root hairs develop in a faster rate. The compatibility of PlaRoM with currently accessible software packages for studying root architecture will be discussed. We are aiming for a global application of our collected root images to analytical tools provided in remote locations.

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