Application of consecutive polyethylene glycol treatments for modeling the seminal root growth of rice under water stress

Pepi Nur Susilawati,Koki Homma,Iskandar Lubis,Ryosuke Tajima,Yuti Giamerti,Yi Yang,Muhammad Prama Yufdy

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-06053-6

Abstract

The response of root growth to various osmotic potentials is quite important in assessing the drought resistance of rice. This study modeled seminal root growth by applying consecutive polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatments (from 0 to 25%, 1% step), mathematical equations and noncontact image analysis to quantitatively evaluate the root response. Treatment began after seeds were germinated, and root growth was recorded by a digital camera every day from 7 to 20 days after seeding (DAS). Although the seminal root length (SRL) measured by image analysis slightly varied with DAS, the equations explained the differences in SRL increases under each PEG concentration relatively well (R2 = 0.774). The equations also suggested that the maximum seminal root length was observed at 5.9% PEG. This numerical characterization of root growth is an effective means of evaluating drought resistance.

Highlights

The response of root growth to various osmotic potentials is quite important in assessing the drought resistance of rice
The protocol described in Tajima and Kato[18] provides an evaluation of total root length, seminal root length (SRL) was only evaluated because distinguishing between roots and the wall of bottle was difficult at later days after seeding (DAS)
The coefficients were determined by the least square method with R 3.6.220 for the SRL data of all treatments from 7 to 20 DAS analyzed by the image analysis

Summary

Introduction

The response of root growth to various osmotic potentials is quite important in assessing the drought resistance of rice. Several studies have shown that one of the root responses to drought in rice is increased root growth and the inhibition of shoot growth[6]. Evaluation of the root extension ability under various soil moisture concentrations is one of the important factors in analyzing drought resistance.

Results

Conclusion