Genotypic variation in durum wheat root systems at different stages of development in a Mediterranean environment

Abstract

Glasshouse and field experiments were carried out to compare root growth of eight durum wheat genotypes at different stages of development with different moisture levels and in different soils. Genotypic differences were found, particularly at the stem elongation and heading stages of development, but the ranking of genotypes varied in relation to soil moisture level and fertility. Differences under optimal moisture level were mainly due to differences in tillering and disappeared by considering the root number and weight per culm. Drought caused an increase in the root-to-total-plant weight ratio (18.5 vs 14.3% at heading) but also an increase in absolute root weight. Karel, the genotype with the largest root mass under drought and the greatest proportion of roots in the upper soil layers (more than 50% in the 0-20cm layer from heading onwards), showed the lowest yield reduction under severe stress. A large root system with a high density of roots in the upper layers of the soil profile may be beneficial in Mediterranean climates.

Changes in durum wheat root and aerial biomass caused by the introduction of the Rht-B1b dwarfing allele and their effects on yield formation

“…Quantifying root characteristics in field experiments is a labour-intensive task because the root crop zone is difficult to access (Motzo et al 1993;Waines and Ehdaie 2007;Izzi et al 2008;Botwright Acuña and Wade 2012). Therefore, little attention has been devoted to root systems in breeding programmes in the past, most of which have dealt with the above-ground plant organs (Waines and Ehdaie 2007).…”

Aiuminium tolerance of durum wheat germplasm

“…It is an important commercial crop in high-yielding Mediterranean environments (Pecetti et al ., 1992 ;Josephides, 1993 ;Motzo et al ., 1993) especially in Italy (Gavuzzi et al ., 1993 ;Joppa, 1993) . The Macedonian durum wheat breeding program is geared toward producing cultivars suitable for utilising full potential of such environments .…”

Effects of drought stress on root physiological traits and root biomass allocation of Reaumuria soongorica

“…Roots can always adjust their growth and biomass allocation to adapt water stress during plant growth and development stage. Thus it is clear that most direct damage part to drought is the plant roots, it can be damaged by drought injury, so when the damage is noticed, it may be obvious that root morphological and physiological was adjusted, which adapt to absorb water and nutrition effectively, and directly related to plant drought resistance [13][14][15]. Therefore, study on the response of root morphological and physiological characteristic to drought can better reveal plant drought resistance [16,17].…”