Abstract
The challenge to produce more food for a rising global population on diminishing agricultural land is complicated by the effects of climate change on agricultural productivity. Although great progress has been made in crop improvement, so far most efforts have targeted above-ground traits. Roots are essential for plant adaptation and productivity, but are less studied due to the difficulty of observing them during the plant life cycle. Root system architecture (RSA), made up of structural features like root length, spread, number, and length of lateral roots, among others, exhibits great plasticity in response to environmental changes, and could be critical to developing crops with more efficient roots. Much of the research on root traits has thus far focused on the most common cereal crops and model plants. As cereal yields have reached their yield potential in some regions, understanding their root system may help overcome these plateaus. However, root and tuber crops (RTCs) such as potato, sweetpotato, cassava, and yam may hold more potential for providing food security in the future, and knowledge of their root system additionally focuses directly on the edible portion. Root-trait modeling for multiple stress scenarios, together with high-throughput phenotyping and genotyping techniques, robust databases, and data analytical pipelines, may provide a valuable base for a truly inclusive ‘green revolution.’ In the current review, we discuss RSA with special reference to RTCs, and how knowledge on genetics of RSA can be manipulated to improve their tolerance to abiotic stresses.
Highlights
TO ROOTS AND ROOT SYSTEM ARCHITECTURERoots are essential for plant productivity and serve a variety of functions, such as water and nutrient uptake, forming symbioses with other microorganisms in the rhizosphere, anchoring the plant to the soil, and acting as storage organs
Proteomics work with maize lrt1 mutants showed the detection of proteins associated with lignin metabolism in the primary root, providing evidence that lateral roots (LRs) influenced the proteome of the primary root (Hochholdinger et al, 2004)
Basal roots are important for water uptake and anchorage, whereas stolon roots are connected with nutrient acquisition and tuber formation (Wishart et al, 2013)
Summary
Roots are essential for plant productivity and serve a variety of functions, such as water and nutrient uptake, forming symbioses with other microorganisms in the rhizosphere, anchoring the plant to the soil, and acting as storage organs. Root System Architecture of Root and Tuber Crops generally two types of roots: (i) those that are formed in the embryo, such as the primary and seminal roots in maize (Hochholdinger, 2009), tap or primary root in common bean (Lynch and Brown, 2012); (ii) those formed post-embryonically from consecutive nodes on shoots, normally referred to as adventitious roots (ARs). Progress in the study of RSA in agricultural crops has been realized, especially for cereals, and evidence for the genetic control of RSA and its relationship to increased productivity under stress is currently well-documented Despite these achievements, information on RSA in root and tuber crops (RTCs), which form the second largest group of crops for global food security after cereals, is still lacking. We draw conclusions on the way forward for RSA studies in RTCs
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