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Root type matters: measurement of water uptake by seminal, crown, and lateral roots in maize.

ABSTRACT: The ability of plants to take up water from the soil depends on both the root architecture and the distribution and evolution of the hydraulic conductivities among root types and along the root length. The mature maize (Zea mays L.) root system is composed of primary, seminal, and crown roots together with their respective laterals. Our understanding of root water uptake of maize is largely based on measurements of primary and seminal roots. Crown roots might have a different ability to extract water from the soil, but their hydraulic function remains unknown. The aim of this study was to measure the location of water uptake in mature maize and investigate differences between seminal, crown, and lateral roots. Neutron radiography and injections of deuterated water were used to visualize the root architecture and water transport in 5-week-old maize root systems. Water was mainly taken up by crown roots. Seminal roots and their laterals, which were the main location of water uptake in younger plants, made a minor contribution to water uptake. In contrast to younger seminal roots, crown roots were also able to take up water from their most distal segments. The greater uptake of crown roots compared with seminal roots is explained by their higher axial conductivity in the proximal parts and by the fact that they are connected to the shoot above the seminal roots, which favors the propagation of xylem tension along the crown roots. The deeper water uptake of crown roots is explained by their shorter and fewer laterals, which decreases the dissipation of water potential along the roots.

SUBMITTER: Ahmed MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6019006 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Root type matters: measurement of water uptake by seminal, crown, and lateral roots in maize.

Ahmed Mutez Ali MA Zarebanadkouki Mohsen M Meunier Félicien F Javaux Mathieu M Kaestner Anders A Carminati Andrea A

Journal of experimental botany 20180201 5

The ability of plants to take up water from the soil depends on both the root architecture and the distribution and evolution of the hydraulic conductivities among root types and along the root length. The mature maize (Zea mays L.) root system is composed of primary, seminal, and crown roots together with their respective laterals. Our understanding of root water uptake of maize is largely based on measurements of primary and seminal roots. Crown roots might have a different ability to extract ...[more]

PMID: 29304205

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Project description:Several isolates of coelomycetous fungi with pigmented conidia were consistently isolated from diseased roots of Zea mays in irrigated plots monitored in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. Based on their morphology, these isolates could be identified as representative of Stenocarpella macrospora, S. maydis, and Phaeocytostroma ambiguum. Although species of Stenocarpella are well-known as causal agents of cob and stalk rot and leaf blight of maize in South Africa, the occurrence and importance of P. ambiguum is less well documented and understood. To determine the role of P. ambiguum as a root pathogen of maize, pathogenicity tests were conducted under glasshouse conditions at 18 °C night and 28 °C day temperatures using a pasteurised soil, river sand and perlite medium and a 0.5 % sand-bran inoculum. Based on these results, P. ambiguum was shown to be a primary pathogen of maize, but to be less virulent than the positive control, S. maydis. Furthermore, to clarify the higher-level phylogeny of these fungal genera, isolates were subjected to DNA sequencing of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS & LSU). Partial gene sequences of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene were added to confirm the species monophyly. To resolve the generic placement of Phaeocytostroma, additional species such as P. sacchari, P. plurivorum and P. megalosporum were also added to the analysis. Based on these results, Stenocarpella and Phaeocytostroma were shown to be two well defined genera, belonging to Diaporthales, Diaporthaceae, being closely allied to Phomopsis (Diaporthe). All three genera were also observed to form alpha as well as beta conidia, and although this phenomenon is well documented for Phomopsis and Phaeocytostroma, it is a new observation for Stenocarpella. In spite of the differences in conidial pigmentation, no support could be obtained for polyphyly in Diaporthaceae, suggesting that as observed in Botryosphaeriaceae (Botryosphaeriales), conidial pigmentation is not informative at the family level in Diaporthales.

Dataset Information

Root type matters: measurement of water uptake by seminal, crown, and lateral roots in maize.

Publications

Root type matters: measurement of water uptake by seminal, crown, and lateral roots in maize.

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