scholarly journals Differences in size and architecture of the potato cultivars root system and their tolerance to drought stress  

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 159-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zarzyńska Krystyna ◽  
Boguszewska-Mańkowska Dominika ◽  
Nosalewicz Artur

Drought can cause substantial yield losses, particularly for crops with shallow root systems, such as potato (Solanum tuberosum). This study tested whether root system architecture could affect potato yield under drought conditions. The following parameters of the roots were measured: depth range, total length, total area, surface area, average diameter, and total dry weight of the root system. These parameters in soil layers were also measured at different depths. Five potato cultivars from a group of mid-early cultivars were examined in this study. The same cultivars were tested under two conditions: control with optimal irrigation and drought stress treatment without irrigation for three weeks after the end of tuberization to check the tuber yield. Significant differences were observed among cultivars in the size of the root system and its architecture. The biggest differences in the individual layers of soil profile related to the diameter of the root, the root length, and the surface area. Also a relationship between the size of the root system and yield of tubers was found. The strongest correlations involved the root length and the root surface area with the decrease in tuber yield under the drought, then the dry root mass with the decrease in yield. These correlations were negative: the higher the value of the parameter, the smaller the observed decrease in yield. This showed a relationship between root length and mass with the decrease of yield; this relationship was stronger for roots in deeper layers than in the shallowest layers. Therefore, this study indicates that breeding potato cultivars with deep root systems might improve tuber yields under drought conditions.

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 629-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew B. Bertucci ◽  
David H. Suchoff ◽  
Katherine M. Jennings ◽  
David W. Monks ◽  
Christopher C. Gunter ◽  
...  

Grafting of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is an established production practice that provides resistance to soilborne diseases or tolerance to abiotic stresses. Watermelon may be grafted on several cucurbit species (interspecific grafting); however, little research exists to describe root systems of these diverse rootstocks. A greenhouse study was conducted to compare root system morphology of nine commercially available cucurbit rootstocks, representing four species: pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima), squash (Cucurbita pepo), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), and an interspecific hybrid squash (C. maxima × C. moschata). Rootstocks were grafted with a triploid watermelon scion (‘Exclamation’), and root systems were compared with nongrafted (NG) and self-grafted (SG) ‘Exclamation’. Plants were harvested destructively at 1, 2, and 3 weeks after transplant (WAT), and data were collected on scion dry weight, total root length (TRL), average root diameter, root surface area, root:shoot dry-weight ratio, root diameter class proportions, and specific root length. For all response variables, the main effect of rootstock and rootstock species was significant (P < 0.05). The main effect of harvest was significant (P < 0.05) for all response variables, with the exception of TRL proportion in diameter class 2. ‘Ferro’ rootstock produced the largest TRL and root surface area, with observed values 122% and 120% greater than the smallest root system (‘Exclamation’ SG), respectively. Among rootstock species, pumpkin produced the largest TRL and root surface area, with observed values 100% and 82% greater than those of watermelon, respectively. These results demonstrate that substantial differences exist during the initial 3 WAT in root system morphology of rootstocks and rootstock species available for watermelon grafting and that morphologic differences of root systems can be characterized using image analysis.


Plant Methods ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Liu ◽  
Ji Qian ◽  
Xin Yang ◽  
Bao Di ◽  
Juan Zhou

Abstract Background Traditional measurements of apple seedling roots often rely on manual measurements and existing root scanners on the market. Manual measurement requires a lot of labor and time, and subjective reasons may cause the uncertainty of data; root scanners have limited scanning size and expensive. In case of fruit roots, coverage and occlusion issues will occur, resulting in inaccurate results, but our research solved this problem. Results The background plate was selected according to the color of the seedling roots; the image of the roots of the collected apple seedlings was preprocessed with Vision Development Module by combining image and Labview. The root surface area, average root diameter, root length and root volume of apple seedlings were measured by combining root characteristic parameters algorithm. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, a set of measurement system for root morphology of apple seedlings was designed, and the measurement result was compared with the Canadian root system WinRHIZO 2016 (Canada). With application of SPSS v22.0 analysis, the significance P > 0.01 indicated that the difference was not significant. The relative error of surface area was less than 0.5%. The relative error of the average diameter and length of the root system was less than 0.1%, and the relative error of the root volume was less than 0.2%. Conclusions It not only proved that the root surface area, average root diameter, root length and root volume of apple seedlings could be accurately measured by the method described herein, which was handy in operation, but also reduced the cost by 80–90% compared with the conventional scanner.


HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-551
Author(s):  
Qin Shi ◽  
Yunlong Yin ◽  
Zhiquan Wang ◽  
Wencai Fan ◽  
Jinbo Guo ◽  
...  

Roots are vital organs for resource uptake. However, the knowledge regarding the extent by which responses in roots influence plant resistance is still poorly known. In this study, we examined the morphological and physiological responses of lateral roots of Taxodium hybrid ‘Zhongshanshan 406’ (Taxodium mucronatum♀ and Taxodium distichum♂, T. 406) to 8 (DS-8) and 12 days (DS-12) drought. Control plants (CK-8 and CK-12) were well-watered throughout the experiment. Results indicated that drought resulted in significantly decreased root length, surface area, volume, and biomass and a relatively high death rate of roots (>2 mm). Specific root length (SRL) and specific root surface area (SRA) of drought-stressed T. 406 plants were reduced to enhance resource uptake. Meanwhile, root relative water content (RWC) of T. 406 plants in CK-12 treatment was 5.81 times of those in DS-12 treatment. Under drought stress and root superoxide dismutase and ascorbic acid (ASA) activities, proline and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) contents consistently increased to benefit the elimination of O2−. At the ultrastructural level, the organelle structure of T. 406 plant root tip was visibly damaged because of dehydration. The nucleus swelled and then exhibited uncommon features of disorganization and disruption. In short, our results provided substantial information about lateral root traits of T. 406 plants in response to drought stress, which is crucial to improve the drought resistance of Taxodium hybrid in the future breeding.


HortScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 1272-1279
Author(s):  
Dennis N. Katuuramu ◽  
W. Patrick Wechter ◽  
Marcellus L. Washington ◽  
Matthew Horry ◽  
Matthew A. Cutulle ◽  
...  

Root traits are an important component for productive plant performance. Roots offer immediate absorptive surfaces for water and nutrient acquisition and are thus critical to crop growth and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. In addition, roots can provide the first line of defense against soilborne pathogens. Watermelon crop performance is often challenged by inclement weather and environmental factors. A resilient root system can support the watermelon crop’s performance across a diverse range of production conditions. In this study, 335 four-day-old watermelon (Citrullus spp.) seedlings were evaluated for total root length, average root diameter, total root surface area, and total root volume. Total root length varied from 8.78 to 181 cm (20.6-fold variation), total surface area varied from 2 to 35.5 cm2, and average root diameter and total root volume had an 8- and 29.5-fold variation, respectively. Genotypes PI 195927 (Citrullus colocynthis) and PI 674448 (Citrullus amarus) had the largest total root length values. Accessions PI 674448 and PI 494817 (C. amarus) had the largest total root surface area means. Watermelon cultivars (Citrullus lanatus) had a relatively smaller root system and significantly fewer fibrous roots when compared with the roots of the other Citrullus spp. Positive genetic correlations were identified among total root length, total root surface area, and total root volume. This genetic information will be useful in future breeding efforts to select for multiple root architecture traits in watermelon. Germplasm identified in this study that exhibit superior root traits can be used as parental choices to improve watermelon for root traits.


HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (12) ◽  
pp. 1750-1756
Author(s):  
Zhipei Feng ◽  
Xitian Yang ◽  
Hongyan Liang ◽  
Yuhua Kong ◽  
Dafeng Hui ◽  
...  

Air-root pruning (AP) has been identified as an effective technique for enhancing root growth and development. However, little information is available regarding the temporal changes in the root system of Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco under AP. We performed integrated morphological, physiological, and anatomical analyses of the roots in P. orientalis seedlings that had been air-root pruned for 120, 150, and 190 days. Our results found that the whole root length, number of root tips, and root surface area of AP seedlings at 120, 150, and 190 days were higher than those of the non–root-pruned (NP) seedlings (P < 0.05), but the average root diameter did not differ significantly between the treatments. Compared with NP treatment, AP increased the root length, surface area, number of tips, and specific root length of the ≤0.5 mm diameter roots in P. orientalis during the experimental periods (P < 0.05), but those of 0.5- to 1-mm-diameter roots were only increased on day 190 (P < 0.05). The AP plants also exhibited higher root vitality and proportion of live fine roots than the NP plants (P < 0.05). Our anatomical evaluation of the ≤0.5 mm roots and taproots revealed features that could account for the morphological differences found between the AP and NP plants. In conclusion, our results indicate that air-root pruning induced changes in the roots that promote the root system development in P. orientalis compared with the NP treatment during the experimental period. These results thus provide experimental evidence to support the use of AP in P. orientalis seedlings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qihong Yang ◽  
Chaobo Zhang ◽  
Pengchong Liu ◽  
Jing Jiang

There is a growing consensus on soil conservation by mechanics of plant root system. In order to further study how root system exerts its mechanical properties during soil reinforcing process and which morphological indicator is suitable for reflecting pullout resistance, in-situ vertical pullout test (VPT) and 45° oblique pullout test (OPT) were performed on alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) roots in the loess area. The results showed that the failure mode of alfalfa roots was pulling out in this study. The peak pullout resistance of the roots increased with root diameter, root length and root surface area, and power law relationships were observed between the pullout resistance and the morphological indices: root diameter, root length and root surface area. The maximum gray relational degree of the morphological indices was 0.841 (VPT) and 0.849 (OPT) for root surface area, suggesting that root surface area was a more significant root morphological index affecting root pullout resistance than root diameter and root length, and was more suitable for characterizing the difference in peak pullout resistance of roots with different size. The index could be used to validate the methods for predicting root pullout capacity. The value of peak pullout resistance was 17.2 ± 2.3 N in VPT test and 28.2 ± 3.8 N (mean ± SE) in OPT test, and a significant difference was observed between the two tests, which showed that the pulling direction significantly affected the peak pullout resistance of alfalfa roots. Vertical pullout test, giving the safety margin, was suggested to determine root pullout resistance for estimate of root reinforcement.


Plant Disease ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 88 (9) ◽  
pp. 1011-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loretta M. Ortiz-Ribbing ◽  
Darin M. Eastburn

Experiments were conducted in the greenhouse to evaluate the role that infection location (taproot versus lateral root) plays in disease development of sudden death syndrome (SDS) on soybean (Glycine max) caused by the fungus Fusarium solani f. sp. glycines. Root characteristics of 12 soybean cultivars, representing a range of SDS reactions, were evaluated and compared for disease responses. A method was developed to facilitate taproot or lateral root infection. Results show that this procedure may be useful for observing a continuum of foliar and root disease responses. Significant differences in root length, surface area, and average diameter were observed among cultivars when infection occurred at the taproot or on the lateral roots. A significant correlation existed between foliar symptoms (i.e., area under the disease progress curve [AUDPC]) and root length, surface area, and volume for inoculated plants. Root volume and percent root discoloration were significantly different among individual soybean cultivars, and percent root discoloration was associated with AUDPC values only when the initial site of infection was on the lateral roots of soybean plants. Useful information about root system responses to SDS may be obtained from infection of the entire root system as opposed to only taproot infection.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 4189-4206 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bechmann ◽  
C. Schneider ◽  
A. Carminati ◽  
D. Vetterlein ◽  
S. Attinger ◽  
...  

Abstract. Detailed three-dimensional models of root water uptake have become increasingly popular for investigating the process of root water uptake. However, they suffer from a lack of information on important parameters, particularly on the spatial distribution of root axial and radial conductivities, which vary greatly along a root system. In this paper we explore how the arrangement of those root hydraulic properties and branching within the root system affects modelled uptake dynamics, xylem water potential and the efficiency of root water uptake. We first apply a simple model to illustrate the mechanisms at the scale of single roots. By using two efficiency indices based on (i) the collar xylem potential ("effort") and (ii) the integral amount of unstressed root water uptake ("water yield"), we show that an optimal root length emerges, depending on the ratio between roots axial and radial conductivity. Young roots with high capacity for radial uptake are only efficient when they are short. Branching, in combination with mature transport roots, enables soil exploration and substantially increases active young root length at low collar potentials. Second, we investigate how this shapes uptake dynamics at the plant scale using a comprehensive three-dimensional root water uptake model. Plant-scale dynamics, such as the average uptake depth of entire root systems, were only minimally influenced by the hydraulic parameterization. However, other factors such as hydraulic redistribution, collar potential, internal redistribution patterns and instantaneous uptake depth depended strongly on the arrangement on the arrangement of root hydraulic properties. Root systems were most efficient when assembled of different root types, allowing for separation of root function in uptake (numerous short apical young roots) and transport (longer mature roots). Modelling results became similar when this heterogeneity was accounted for to some degree (i.e. if the root systems contained between 40 and 80% of young uptake roots). The average collar potential was cut to half and unstressed transpiration increased by up to 25% in composed root systems, compared to homogenous ones. Also, the least efficient root system (homogenous young root system) was characterized by excessive bleeding (hydraulic lift), which seemed to be an artifact of the parameterization. We conclude that heterogeneity of root hydraulic properties is a critical component for efficient root systems that needs to be accounted for in complex three-dimensional root water uptake models.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 2263-2278
Author(s):  
Hang ZHOU ◽  
Dianfeng ZHENG ◽  
Naijie Feng

Spatial and temporal distribution of roots of mung bean and soybean originated from different geographical backgrounds is an important scientific issue. The aim of this study was to research the spatial and temporal distribution of roots system of soybean cultivar ‘Hefeng55’ and mung bean cultivar ‘Jilv7’ which can elucidate differences between soybean roots and mung bean roots in the key spatial and temporal locations. The roots at V6, R2, R4, R5, R6, and R7 stages were collected to acquire data of root length, root surface area, root volume and root dry weight. 49.8%, 11.7%, 13.2%, 14.7% and 10.6% of soybean roots and 57.8%, 10.7%, 11.2%, 11.9% and 8.4% of mung bean roots were in 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, 15-20 and 20-25 cm horizontal soil layers, respectively; 79.2%, 11.5%, 4.3%, 1.8%, 1.1%, 1.0% and 1.1% of soybean roots and 70.0%, 12.3%, 8.0%, 3.0%, 1.6%, 1.7% and 3.4% of mung bean roots were in 0-20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80, 80-100, 100-120 and 120-140 cm vertical soil layers, respectively. Compared with mung bean, soybean had a much larger root system during development. In horizontal direction, soybean root tended to be more laterally developed, but the distribution of mung bean root was more uniform in vertical direction. With a greater root surface area to weight ratio (AWR), mung bean had a finer root system than soybean. These findings can help to clarify the four-dimensional spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of legumes and may provide reference for production practice of soybean and mung bean in the future.


Author(s):  
Ömer Sarı

The study was carried out to determine the root architectural characteristics of the one-year saplings of two species of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens L. and Buxus balearica Lam.), which are endangered and natural plants of Turkey, in the greenhouse environment using the WinRhizo root analysis program and scanner. Total root length (cm), root surface area (cm2), root volume (cm3), average root diameter (mm), number of tips, number of forks and number of root crossings were determined in the study. According to the results of the study, the increase in temperature and decrease in humidity values in the second year of both species were effective on the root architectural features. As a result of this effect, the second year root length (3810 cm), number of root tips (2299), number of forks (7007) and number of root crossings (696) increased, root diameter (1.4 mm), root surface area (2158 cm2) and root volume (8 cm3) decreased. As a result, it has been concluded that species can make changes in their root parameters to adapt to different conditions and their adaptability is high. In general, the best results in root architectural parameters were obtained from Buxus balearica on the basis of species.


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