Demystifying roots:  a need for clarification and extended concepts in root phenotyping

Lobet, Guillaume; Paez-Garcia, Ana; Schneider, Hannah; Junker, Astrid; Atkinson, Jonathan A.; Tracy, Saoirse

doi:10.1016/j.plantsci.2018.09.015

Authors

Guillaume Lobet

Ana Paez-Garcia

Hannah Schneider

Astrid Junker

JONATHAN ATKINSON JONATHAN.ATKINSON@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Future Food Beacon: technologist in Phenomics

Saoirse Tracy

Abstract

Plant roots have major roles in plant anchorage, resource acquisition and offer environmental benefits including carbon sequestration and soil erosion mitigation. As such, the study of root system architecture, anatomy and functional properties is of crucial interest to plant breeding, with the aim of sustainable yield production and environmental stewardship.

Due to the importance of the root system studies, there is a need for clarification of terms and concepts in the root phenotyping community. In particular in this contribution, we advocate for the use of a reference naming system (ontologies) for roots and root phenes. Such uniformity would not only allow better understanding of research results, but would also enable a better sharing of data. In addition, we highlight the need to incorporate the concept of plasticity in breeding programs, as it is an essential component of root system development in heterogeneous environments.

Citation

Lobet, G., Paez-Garcia, A., Schneider, H., Junker, A., Atkinson, J. A., & Tracy, S. (2018). Demystifying roots: a need for clarification and extended concepts in root phenotyping. Plant Science, 282, 11-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2018.09.015

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Sep 21, 2018
Online Publication Date	Sep 25, 2018
Publication Date	Sep 25, 2018
Deposit Date	Nov 6, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Dec 12, 2018
Journal	Plant Science
Print ISSN	0168-9452
Electronic ISSN	1873-2259
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	282
Pages	11-13
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2018.09.015
Keywords	Root; Phenotyping; Plasticity; Ontology
Public URL	https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1231500
Publisher URL	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016894521730910X?via%3Dihub