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In silico evidence for the utility of parsimonious root phenotypes for improved vegetative growth and carbon sequestration under drought

Schäfer, Ernst D.; Ajmera, Ishan; Farcot, Etienne; Owen, Markus R.; Band, Leah R.; Lynch, Jonathan P.

In silico evidence for the utility of parsimonious root phenotypes for improved vegetative growth and carbon sequestration under drought Thumbnail


Authors

Ernst D. Schäfer

Ishan Ajmera

LEAH BAND leah.band@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Mathematical Biology

Jonathan P. Lynch



Abstract

Drought is a primary constraint to crop yields and climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of drought stress in the future. It has been hypothesized that crops can be made more resistant to drought and better able to sequester atmospheric carbon in the soil by selecting appropriate root phenotypes. We introduce OpenSimRoot_v2, an upgraded version of the functional-structural plant/soil model OpenSimRoot, and use it to test the utility of a maize root phenotype with fewer and steeper axial roots, reduced lateral root branching density, and more aerenchyma formation (i.e. the ‘Steep, Cheap, and Deep’ (SCD) ideotype) and different combinations of underlying SCD root phene states under rainfed and drought conditions in three distinct maize growing pedoclimatic environments in the USA, Nigeria, and Mexico. In all environments where plants are subjected to drought stress the SCD ideotype as well as several intermediate phenotypes lead to greater shoot biomass after 42 days. As an additional advantage, the amount of carbon deposited below 50cm in the soil is twice as great for the SCD phenotype as for the reference phenotype in 5 out of 6 simulated environments. We conclude that crop growth and deep soil carbon deposition can be improved by breeding maize plants with fewer axial roots, reduced lateral root branching density, and more aerenchyma formation.

Citation

Schäfer, E. D., Ajmera, I., Farcot, E., Owen, M. R., Band, L. R., & Lynch, J. P. (2022). In silico evidence for the utility of parsimonious root phenotypes for improved vegetative growth and carbon sequestration under drought. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, Article 1010165. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.1010165

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 3, 2022
Online Publication Date Nov 17, 2022
Publication Date Nov 17, 2022
Deposit Date Oct 5, 2022
Publicly Available Date Nov 17, 2022
Journal Frontiers in Plant Science
Electronic ISSN 1664-462X
Publisher Frontiers Media
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 13
Article Number 1010165
DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.1010165
Keywords Root phenotypes; drought; functional-structural plant/soil model; OpenSimRoot v2; maize; carbon assimilation; Farquhar-
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/12029581
Publisher URL https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.1010165/full
Additional Information Received: 02 August 2022; Accepted: 03 October 2022; Published: 17 November 2022.

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