Improving crop nutrient efficiency through root architecture modifications

Abstract

Improving crop nutrient efficiency becomes an essential consideration for environmentally friendly and sustainable agriculture. Plant growth and development is dependent on 17 essential nutrient elements, among them, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are the two most important mineral nutrients. Hence it is not surprising that low N and/or low P availability in soils severely constrains crop growth and productivity, and thereby have become high priority targets for improving nutrient efficiency in crops. Root exploration largely determines the ability of plants to acquire mineral nutrients from soils. Therefore, root architecture, the 3-dimensional configuration of the plant's root system in the soil, is of great importance for improving crop nutrient efficiency. Furthermore, the symbiotic associations between host plants and arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi/rhizobial bacteria, are additional important strategies to enhance nutrient acquisition. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in the current understanding of crop species control of root architecture alterations in response to nutrient availability and root/microbe symbioses, through gene or QTL regulation, which results in enhanced nutrient acquisition.

Identification of candidate domestication regions in the radish genome based on high-depth resequencing analysis of 17 genotypes

“…Nutrient efficiency of crop species can be enhanced by changing root architecture (reviewed in Li et al 2016). Nutrient efficiency of crop species can be enhanced by changing root architecture (reviewed in Li et al 2016).…”

Effects of Liquid Organic Fertilizers on Plant Growth and Rhizosphere Soil Characteristics of Chrysanthemum

“…The root systems of plants perform important roles in plant growth [42]. Here, the various liquid organic fertilizer treatments significantly promoted root growth by 76.2-179.6% and 10.2-77.8% compared with the CK and NPK treatments, respectively (Figure 1).…”

Root architecture simulation improves the inference from seedling root phenotyping towards mature root systems

“…Then 8.3 g of an AMF inoculum ( Glomus mosseae BEG95, G. intraradices , and G. geosporum BEG199; supplied by Dr Aleš Látr, Symbiom, Czech Republic) were added to each plant individual around the root systems at depths of 0–10 cm before the tube was filled to the brim with additional sand. The symbiont inoculation (rhizobia+AMF) approximates microbial-mediated nutrient acquisition in field environments which can influence the shape of root systems (Li et al , 2016). An automated, pressure-compensated drip-irrigation system was used to supply all plants with ample amounts of water and a modified Long Ashton nutrient solution (Jia et al , 2004); amounts were adjusted to increasing plant size and weather conditions.…”