The development of rice varieties for dry direct-seeded conditions can be accelerated by selecting suitable traits. In the present investigation, traits hypothesized to be important for direct-seeded conditions in rainfed systems, including seedling emergence, early vegetative vigour, nutrient uptake, nodal root number, and root hair length and density, were characterized to study the genetic c...

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important food crop of the world; but drought stress is a serious limiting factor to rice production and yield stability in rainfed areas. Breeding for drought tolerance is a challenging task because of the complexicity of the component traits, screening technique, environmental factors and their interaction. The major setback in drought tolerance breeding is ...

Aeroponic culture is an alternative method for optimizing growth of different plants in controlled conditions. Aeroponic systems are an efficient tool for the root studies and improving medicinal root production. In order to study the feasibility of valerian (Valeriana officinalis L.) production in aeroponic systems and assessing the effects of different NAA concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5...

Few studies describe root distributions at the species level in diverse forests, although belowground species interactions and traits are often assumed to affect fine-root biomass (FRB). We used molecular barcoding to study how FRB of trees relates to soil characteristics, species identity, root diversity, and root traits, and how these relationships are affected by proximity to ecotones in a t...

Plant root hairs increase the root surface to enhance the uptake of sparingly soluble and immobile nutrients, such as the essential nutrient phosphorus, from the soil. Here, root hair traits and the response to scarce local phosphorus concentration were studied in 166 accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana using split plates. Root hair density and length were correlated, but highly variable among a...

The spatial distribution of all root parts in a particular growth environment is collectively referred to as system architecture (RSA). Root length, cortical cell file number, number roots and size help determining water uptake ability among various types an adaptation strategy under dry conditions. Using combination phenotyping techniques that include laboratory, greenhouse, field evaluations,...

Maize (Zea mays L) is the most important food grain in sub-Saharan Africa and is mostly grown by small-scale farmers under rainfed conditions. Aluminum toxicity caused by low pH is one of the abiotic factors limiting maize production among smallholder farmers. Therefore, breeding maize hybrids that are tolerant to aluminum toxicity will sustain and increase maize production in these areas. Henc...

Photosynthesis by leaves and acquisition of water and minerals by roots are required for plant growth, which is a key component of many ecosystem functions. Although the role of leaf functional traits in photosynthesis is generally well understood, the relationship of root functional traits to nutrient uptake is not. In particular, predictions of nutrient acquisition strategies from specific ro...

Studies on the function of root traits and the genetic variation in these traits are often conducted under controlled conditions using individual potted plants. Little is known about root growth under field conditions and how root traits are affected by agronomic practices in particular sowing density. We hypothesized that with increasing sowing density, root length density (root length per soi...

Cassava is a starchy root crop cultivated in the tropics for fresh consumption and commercial processing. Primary selection objectives in cassava breeding include dry matter content and micronutrient density, particularly provitamin A carotenoids. These traits are negatively correlated in the African germplasm. This study aimed at identifying genetic markers associated with these traits and unc...