Cara Wharton, Andrew Beacham, Miriam L Gifford, James Monaghan
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: There is much interest in how roots can be manipulated to improve crop performance in a changing climate, yet root research is made difficult by the challenges of visualising the root system accurately, particularly when grown in natural environments such as soil. Scientists often resort to use of agar- or paper-based assays, which provide unnatural growing media, with the roots often exposed to light. Alternatives include rhizotrons or x-ray computed tomography, which require specialist and expensive pieces of equipment, not accessible to those in developing countries most affected by climate change. Another option is excavation of roots, however, this is time-consuming and near impossible to achieve without some degree of root damage. Therefore, new, affordable but reliable alternatives for root phenotyping are necessary.
Results: This study reports a novel, low cost, Rootrainer-based system for root phenotyping. Rootrainers were tilted at an angle, in a rhizotron-like set-up. This encouraged root growth on the bottom plane of the Rootrainers, and since Rootrainers open (in a book-like fashion), root growth can be easily observed. This new technique was successfully used to uncover significant genotypic variance in rooting traits for a selection of lettuce (L. sativa) varieties across multiple timepoints.
Conclusion: This novel Rootrainertron method has many advantages over existing methods of phenotyping seedling roots. Rootrainers are cheap, and readily available from garden centres, unlike rhizotrons which are expensive and only available from specialist suppliers. Rootrainers allow the roots to grow in substrate medium, providing a significant advantage over agar and paper assays.This approach offers an affordable and relevant root phenotyping option and makes root phenotyping more accessible and applicable for researchers.
期刊介绍:
Plant Methods is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal for the plant research community that encompasses all aspects of technological innovation in the plant sciences.
There is no doubt that we have entered an exciting new era in plant biology. The completion of the Arabidopsis genome sequence, and the rapid progress being made in other plant genomics projects are providing unparalleled opportunities for progress in all areas of plant science. Nevertheless, enormous challenges lie ahead if we are to understand the function of every gene in the genome, and how the individual parts work together to make the whole organism. Achieving these goals will require an unprecedented collaborative effort, combining high-throughput, system-wide technologies with more focused approaches that integrate traditional disciplines such as cell biology, biochemistry and molecular genetics.
Technological innovation is probably the most important catalyst for progress in any scientific discipline. Plant Methods’ goal is to stimulate the development and adoption of new and improved techniques and research tools and, where appropriate, to promote consistency of methodologies for better integration of data from different laboratories.