Abstract
Background and aimsThere is an urgent need to develop new high throughput approaches to phenotype roots in the field. Excavating roots to make direct measurements is labour intensive. An alternative to excavation is to measure soil drying profiles and to infer root activity.MethodsWe grew 23 lines of wheat in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In each year we estimated soil water profiles with electrical resistance tomography (ERT), electromagnetic inductance (EMI), penetrometer measurements and measurements of soil water content. We determined the relationships between the measured variable and soil water content and matric potential.ResultsWe found that ERT and penetrometer measurements were closely related to soil matric potential and produced the best discrimination between wheat lines. We found genotypic differences in depth of water uptake in soil water profiles and in the extent of surface drying.ConclusionsPenetrometer measurements can provide a reliable approach to comparing soil drying profiles by different wheat lines, and genotypic rankings are repeatable across years. EMI, which is more sensitive to soil water content than matric potential, and is less effective in drier soils than the penetrometer or ERT, nevertheless can be used to rapidly screen large populations for differences in root activity.
Highlights
Two of the most important functions of the root systems in crop species are to acquire water and nutrients
Penetrometer measurements can provide a reliable approach to comparing soil drying profiles by different wheat lines, and genotypic rankings are repeatable across years
electromagnetic inductance (EMI), which is more sensitive to soil water content than matric potential, and is less effective in drier soils than the penetrometer or electrical resistance tomography (ERT), can be used to rapidly screen large populations for differences in root activity
Summary
Two of the most important functions of the root systems in crop species are to acquire water and nutrients. Apart from uncertainty over the optimal combination of shoot and root traits, (Meister et al 2014) noted that there was a lack of technology for high throughput, non-invasive phenotyping of roots in the field. This applies to both root system architecture and function. An alternative to excavating the root systems is to measure soil water content as a function of depth and infer root activity from those measurements. An alternative to excavation is to measure soil drying profiles and to infer root activity. We determined the relationships between the measured variable and soil water content and matric potential
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