title: Root Traits and Phenotyping Strategies for Plant Improvement.
abstract: Roots are crucial for nutrient and water acquisition and can be targeted to enhance plant productivity under a broad range of growing conditions. A current challenge for plant breeding is the limited ability to phenotype and select for desirable root characteristics due to their underground location. Plant breeding efforts aimed at modifying root traits can result in novel, more stress-tolerant crops and increased yield by enhancing the capacity of the plant for soil exploration and, thus, water and nutrient acquisition. Available approaches for root phenotyping in laboratory, greenhouse and field encompass simple agar plates to labor-intensive root digging (i.e., shovelomics) and soil boring methods, the construction of underground root observation stations and sophisticated computer-assisted root imaging. Here, we summarize root architectural traits relevant to crop productivity, survey root phenotyping strategies and describe their advantages, limitations and practical value for crop and forage breeding programs.
authors.affiliation: The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401, USA. apaezgarcia@noble.org.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paez-Garcia
authors.affiliation: The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401, USA. cmmotes@noble.org.
authors.forename: Christy M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Motes
authors.affiliation: The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401, USA. wrscheible@noble.org.
authors.forename: Wolf-Rüdiger
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Scheible
authors.affiliation: The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401, USA. rchen@noble.org.
authors.forename: Rujin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401, USA. eblancaflor@noble.org.
authors.forename: Elison B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Blancaflor
authors.affiliation: The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401, USA. mjmonteros@noble.org.
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Monteros
keywords: abiotic stress; breeding; phenotyping; root; root breeding; root ideotype; root plasticity