W219Getting to the Root of the Matter: The Growing Importance of Root Biology to Global Food Security
Time: 4:00 PM
Plant root systems function as critical links between the growing shoot and the rhizosphere, providing both nutrients and water to the plant. Because roots grow in opaque soils and thus are not readily visible, they are often taken for granted as the “hidden half” of the plant, especially when it comes to crop improvement strategies. In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of root structure and function in many important agronomics traits, especially those associated with crop adaptation to climate change and environmental stresses. For example, plant scientists now understand that root system architecture (RSA), which is the way a plant organizes its root system in three dimensions in the soil, can play an important role in crop nutrient and water acquisition under marginal soil conditions. Differences in RSA can lead to different root archetypes, with some better adapted to acquiring nutrients that have relatively low mobility in the soil (such as phosphorous), and other root architectures better designed to acquire mobile soil nutrients such as water. In this seminar I will discuss research integrating high throughput RSA phenotyping with discovery of genes underlying root traits. I also will briefly introduce our new program at the Global Institute for Food Security on identifying important root traits and associated genes and genetic markers, for possible use in future plant breeding programs aimed at improving crop resiliency and productivity on sub-optimal soils.
Title: Getting to the Root of the Matter: The Growing Importance of Root Biology to Global Food Security
Submitter's E-mail Address: leon.kochian@gifs.ca Session Selection: Crop Genomics for Global Food Security First Author and Presenting Author
Leon Kochian
Global Institute for Food Security, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
Email: leon.kochian@usask.ca