Abstract
Plant roots exploit morphological plasticity to adapt and respond to different soil environments. We characterized the root system architecture of nine wild tomato species and four cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) varieties during early growth in a controlled environment. Additionally, the root system architecture of six near-isogenic lines from the tomato ‘Micro-Tom’ mutant collection was also studied. These lines were affected in key genes of ethylene, abscisic acid, and anthocyanin pathways. We found extensive differences between the studied lines for a number of meaningful morphological traits, such as lateral root distribution, lateral root length or adventitious root development, which might represent adaptations to local soil conditions during speciation and subsequent domestication. Taken together, our results provide a general quantitative framework for comparing root system architecture in tomato seedlings and other related species.
Highlights
The root system is essential for plant growth because of its basic functions in the selective absorption of water and nutrients, as a mechanical support and storage organ, as a selective barrier against pathogens, and in the modulation of some stress responses [1,2]
To characterize the phenotypic space of root system architecture (RSA) in tomato, we studied several morphological traits during early growth in 19 tomato genotypes selected from a representative sample of wild tomato species, commercial cultivars and monogenic mutants
To search for novel RSA regulators, we investigated some of the developmental mutants that were introgressed previously by other authors into a unique background, the ‘Micro-Tom’ cultivar [18], that facilitates comparative studies and double mutant analysis
Summary
The root system is essential for plant growth because of its basic functions in the selective absorption of water and nutrients, as a mechanical support and storage organ, as a selective barrier against pathogens, and in the modulation of some stress responses [1,2]. A quantitative analysis of cellular and morphological root phenotypes in a population of 76 homozygous introgression lines between these two species featured numerous quantitative trait loci that influence a diversity of root traits [14] Further analysis of this population can facilitate the eventual identification of genes that regulate some key RSA attributes, such as root length. To characterize the phenotypic space of RSA in tomato, we studied several morphological traits during early growth in 19 tomato genotypes selected from a representative sample of wild tomato species, commercial cultivars and monogenic mutants. The characterization of early RSA traits in a number of developmental mutants of the same genetic background will allow us to understand the hormonal crosstalk contributing to the local activation of growth in postembryonic root meristems. Our results will provide a theoretical framework to initiate the genetic characterization of RSA in tomato seedlings during early growth
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