The relationships between seedling root screens, root growth in the field and grain yield for wheat

Bai, Chen; Ge, Yaoxiang; Ashton, R. W.; Evans, J.; Milne, Alice E.; Hawkesford, Malcolm J.; Whalley, W. R.; Parry, M. A. J.; Melichar, J.; Feuerhelm, David; Basler, P.; Bartsch, Michael

doi:10.1007/s11104-019-04088-9

Cited by 45 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In field experiments, we have observed that Rht-B1c is deeper rooting in comparison with Rht-B1a (Bai et al, 2019;Hodkinson et al 2017). It was assumed that the deeper rooting of Rht-B1c in the field was related to increased branching, leading to a greater number of roots locating pores.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…In field experiments, we have observed that Rht‐B1c is deeper rooting in comparison with Rht‐B1a (Bai et al, ; Hodkinson et al . 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Artificial macropores formed in the subsoil and exploitation of these pores by roots was monitored with Xray CT. We used two near isogenic wheat lines, Rht-B1a (tall) and Rht-B1c (dwarf), for the experiment. In field conditions, we have previously found that Rht-B1c tends to have deeper roots than Rht-B1a (Hodkinson et al 2017;Bai et al, 2019). We sought to confirm if roots can exploit pores to bypass strong layers of soil.…”

mentioning

confidence: 91%

“…In field conditions, we have previously found that Rht‐B1c tends to have deeper roots than Rht‐B1a (Hodkinson et al . 2017; Bai et al, ). We sought to confirm if roots can exploit pores to bypass strong layers of soil.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Colombi, Braun, Keller, & Walter () reported, from pot experiments, that the early growth of wheat seedlings was correlated with the number of axial roots. In the field, Bai et al () found that deep rooting appeared to be more likely in wheat with a greater amount of surface roots. This supports the hypothesis that the exploitation of the soil structural pore space by roots is in part related to the probability of a root finding a pore by chance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil strength influences wheat root interactions with soil macropores

Atkinson

Hawkesford

Whalley

et al. 2019

Plant Cell & Environment

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Deep rooting is critical for access to water and nutrients found in subsoil. However, damage to soil structure and the natural increase in soil strength with depth, often impedes root penetration. Evidence suggests that roots use macropores (soil cavities greater than 75 μm) to bypass strong soil layers. If roots have to exploit structures, a key trait conferring deep rooting will be the ability to locate existing pore networks; a trait called trematotropism. In this study, artificial macropores were created in repacked soil columns at bulk densities of 1.6 g cm−3 and 1.2 g cm−3, representing compact and loose soil. Near isogenic lines of wheat, Rht‐B1a and Rht‐B1c, were planted and root–macropore interactions were visualized and quantified using X‐ray computed tomography. In compact soil, 68.8% of root–macropore interactions resulted in pore colonization, compared with 12.5% in loose soil. Changes in root growth trajectory following pore interaction were also quantified, with 21.0% of roots changing direction (±3°) in loose soil compared with 76.0% in compact soil. These results indicate that colonization of macropores is an important strategy of wheat roots in compacted subsoil. Management practices to reduce subsoil compaction and encourage macropore formation could offer significant advantage in helping wheat roots penetrate deeper into subsoil.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…In field experiments, we have observed that Rht‐B1c is deeper rooting in comparison with Rht‐B1a (Bai et al, ; Hodkinson et al . 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

mentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil strength influences wheat root interactions with soil macropores

Atkinson

Hawkesford

Whalley

et al. 2019

Plant Cell & Environment

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Phenotyping cowpea for seedling root architecture reveals root phenes important for breeding phosphorus efficient varieties

et al. 2021

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Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) is a key climate‐resilient legume for food security, especially in sub‐Saharan Africa. Cowpea yields are limited by edaphic stresses including drought and low phosphorus (P) availability. Identifying genotypes with advantageous root phenotypes can facilitate breeding for improved yield in marginal environments. We evaluated 50 elite genotypes from African and U.S. sources for seedling root architecture and root hair length and density. Significant genotypic variation was detected for all phenes, and high heritability was observed for architectural phenotypes including primary root length (77%), basal root number (72%), and taproot branching density (67%). Moderate heritability was detected for root hair length and density among different root classes (34 to 63%), which were positively associated with each other. Principal component analysis identified three clusters, primarily defined by seed dimension and seedling root architecture. Genotypes were identified with longer root hairs (TVu‐7778, Vita7, and Sanzi) and longer taproots (IT96D‐610, IT98K‐111‐1, and IT97K‐499‐35), as potential parents. Root phenotypes, grain, and fodder yield were assessed on a subset of 20 genotypes under contrasting P availability in the field. Some seedling root phenotypes were significantly related to mature plant dry fodder weight (taproot hair density) and to grain yield (lateral root hair density) under low P. Root hairs are positively related to plant productivity under low P. We suggest selection for longer primary roots, as more basal and lateral root roots may be beneficial for cowpea in drought and low P environments. These findings suggest seedling root phenotypes can support cowpea breeding for suboptimal environments.

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Accounting for heterogeneity in the θ–σ relationship: Application to wheat phenotyping using EMI

Blanchy

Watts

Ashton

et al. 2020

Vadose Zone Journal

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Geophysical methods, such as electromagnetic induction (EMI), can be effective for monitoring changes in soil moisture at the field scale, particularly in agricultural applications. The electrical conductivity (σ) inferred from EMI needs to be converted to soil moisture content (θ) using an appropriate relationship. Typically, a single global relationship is applied to an entire agricultural field; however, soil heterogeneity at the field scale may limit the effectiveness of such an approach. One application area that may suffer from such an effect is crop phenotyping. Selecting crop varieties based on their root traits is important for crop breeding and maximizing yield. Hence, highthroughput tools for phenotyping the root system architecture and activity at the field scale are needed. Water uptake is a major root activity and, under appropriate conditions, can be approximated by measuring changes in soil moisture from time-lapse geophysical surveys. We examine here the effect of heterogeneity in the θ-σ relationship using a crop phenotyping study for illustration. In this study, the θ-σ relationship was found to vary substantially across a field site. To account for this, we propose a range of local (plot specific) θ-σ models. We show that the large number of parameters required for these models can be estimated from baseline σ and θ measurements. Finally, we compare the use of global (field scale) and local (plot scale) models with respect to ranking varieties based on the estimated soil moisture content change.

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The relationships between seedling root screens, root growth in the field and grain yield for wheat

Cited by 45 publications

References 43 publications

Soil strength influences wheat root interactions with soil macropores

Soil strength influences wheat root interactions with soil macropores

Phenotyping cowpea for seedling root architecture reveals root phenes important for breeding phosphorus efficient varieties

Accounting for heterogeneity in the θ–σ relationship: Application to wheat phenotyping using EMI

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