Minirhizotron Observations of the Spatial Distribution of the Maize Root System

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to analyze the spatial distribution of the attributes that determine the physiological quality of Joannesia princeps seeds. Seeds were collected, individually from, 40 mother plants in the Horto Florestal Municipal Laerth Paiva Gama, in Alegre-ES, which constituted the georeferenced sampling mesh. For germination, the seeds tegument was cracked and was held the imbibition in gibberellic acid GA3 500 mg L-1 for 24 h in environmental chamber with temperature adjusted to 30 ºC. The seeds were sown in plastic bags of ± 600 cm3 containing soil+sand+manure in the proportion of 1:1:1. On the 65th day after sowing, the following variables were analised: emergence (E), emergence speed index (IVE), root length (CR), diameter of base (DC), shoot length of the aerial part (CPA), fresh mass of the root system (MFSR), fresh mass of the aerial part (MFPA), dry mass of the root system (MSSR) and dry mass of the aerial part (MSPA). Data were subjected to descriptive statistics, geostatistics and kriging. With the exception of CPA and MFSR, it was found spatial dependence for the other studied variables: E, IVE, CR, DC, MFPA, MSSR e MSPA; varying of 14,0 a 47,5 m, so that the lowest range for the CR and longer range and degree of spatial dependence for the IVE. The analysis of the spatial distribution of the physiological quality of seeds of J. princeps can be used as a tool to define the sampling region of seeds with high and low vigor.

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Effect of cold stress on gene expression and functional pathways in maize root system

Grassland Science ◽

10.1111/grs.12246 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 65 (4) ◽

pp. 249-256

Author(s):

Yanhua Ma ◽

Suiyan Li ◽

Hong Lin ◽

Liyan Pan ◽

Guowei Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Cold Stress ◽

Root System ◽

Maize Root ◽

Functional Pathways

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MARSHAL, a novel tool for virtual phenotyping of maize root system hydraulic architectures

in silico Plants ◽

10.1093/insilicoplants/diz012 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Félicien Meunier ◽

Adrien Heymans ◽

Xavier Draye ◽

Valentin Couvreur ◽

Mathieu Javaux ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Root System ◽

Web Application ◽

Root Traits ◽

Root Systems ◽

R Package ◽

Maize Root ◽

Model Parameters ◽

System Modelling ◽

Architecture Model ◽

System Models

Abstract Functional-structural root system models combine functional and structural root traits to represent the growth and development of root systems. In general, they are characterized by a large number of growth, architectural and functional root parameters, generating contrasted root systems evolving in a highly non-linear environment (soil, atmosphere), which makes the link between local traits and functioning unclear. On the other end of the root system modelling continuum, macroscopic root system models associate to each root system a set of plant-scale, easily interpretable parameters. However, as of today, it is unclear how these macroscopic parameters relate to root-scale traits and whether the upscaling of local root traits is compatible with macroscopic parameter measurements. The aim of this study was to bridge the gap between these two modelling approaches. We describe here the MAize Root System Hydraulic Architecture soLver (MARSHAL), a new efficient and user-friendly computational tool that couples a root architecture model (CRootBox) with fast and accurate algorithms of water flow through hydraulic architectures and plant-scale parameter calculations. To illustrate the tool’s potential, we generated contrasted maize hydraulic architectures that we compared with root system architectural and hydraulic observations. Observed variability of these traits was well captured by model ensemble runs. We also analysed the multivariate sensitivity of mature root system conductance, mean depth of uptake, root system volume and convex hull to the input parameters to highlight the key model parameters to vary for virtual breeding. It is available as an R package, an RMarkdown pipeline and a web application.

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The Development of the Maize Root System: Role of Auxin and Ethylene

Soil Biology - Root Engineering ◽

10.1007/978-3-642-54276-3_5 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 75-103 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

María Victoria Alarcón ◽

Pedro G. Lloret ◽

Julio Salguero

Keyword(s):

Root System ◽

Maize Root

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An In-Situ Rainwater Collection and Infiltration System to Improve Plant-Available Water and Fine Root Growth for Drought Resistance

Applied Engineering in Agriculture ◽

10.13031/aea.13566 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 36 (5) ◽

pp. 807-814

Author(s):

Xiaolin Song ◽

Xiaodong Gao ◽

Paul Reese Weckler ◽

Wei Zhang ◽

Jie Yao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Distribution ◽

Root Growth ◽

Root System ◽

Drought Resistance ◽

Fine Roots ◽

Soil Depth ◽

List Type ◽

Available Water ◽

Plant Available Water

HighlightsAn in-situ rainwater collection and infiltration (RWCI) method is a rainwater catchment utilization techniqueRWCI is advantageous for increasing sustainable plant-avaibale water to increase drought resistanceRWCI significantly increased the amount of water and nutrients in the rhizosphere for uptake by apple tree rootsABSTRACT. A two-year field experiment was undertaken to determine the spatial distribution of plant-available water and roots in soil profiles under two rainfall control systems—an in-situ rainwater collection and infiltration (RWCI) method and a semi-circular basin (SCB)—in apple orchards in the Loess Plateau of China. The results showed that the RWCI treatments with a soil depth of 40 cm (RWCI40), 60 cm (RWCI60), and 80 cm (RWCI80) significantly increased plant-available water in different seasons and depths and increased root growth of apple trees in the experimental soil profile (0–200 cm). At 0–200 cm soil depth, then RWCI treatments had significantly higher (91.86%-110.01%) mean plant-available water storage (PAWS) than the SCB treatment in both study years (2015 and 2016). From 0–120 cm soil depth, the RWCI60 treatment had significantly higher growing season mean PAWS than RWCI40 and RWCI80; however, RWCI80 had the highest from 120–200 cm. From 0–60 cm, the RWCI treatments had 25.84%-36.86% a smaller proportion of root system than the SCB treatment. However, from 60–120 cm, the proportion of root system increased by 131.53% (RWCI40), 157.95% (RWCI60) and 129.98% (RWCI80), relative to SCB. From 0–200 cm, the RWCI treatments had 1.49–1.94 times more root dry weight density than the SCB treatment. The highest concentration of fine roots occurred in the RWCI treatments. Thus, RWCI enabled roots to absorb more water and nutrients from a wider wetted area and improved drought resistance. Keywords: Drought resistance, Fine roots, Loess Plateau, Plant-available water, Spatial distribution.

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