Causal shoot and root system traits to variability and plasticity in juvenile cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) plants in response to reduced soil moisture.

ABSTRACT: Cassava is an important source of food security and livelihoods for millions of consumers daily. Water deficit conditions are one of the major factors that affect the development of root system architecture (RSA) and consequently, crop productivity, and yet, due to its long maturity periods and bulky storage root systems, RSA studies in cassava are uncommon. The objective of this study was to identify traits that are responsible for the variability and plastic responses of cassava in response to drought at the juvenile stage of growth. Eight cassava genotypes were grown in soil-filled pots under well-watered and droughted conditions for up to 45 days and multivariate analyses employed to determine the major contributory traits to variability and the relative distance plasticity index (RDPI

SUBMITTER: Adu MO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7468047 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature