Sidhu Jagdeep Singh, Schneider Hannah M
Department of Plant Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.
Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) OT Gatersleben, Seeland 06466, Germany
Cold Spring Harb Protoc. 2025 Sep 2;2025(9):pdb.top108454. doi: 10.1101/pdb.top108454.
Root anatomy plays a crucial role in regulating essential processes such as the absorption and movement of water and nutrients in plants. Root anatomy also impacts the energy costs of building and sustaining root tissues, tissue mechanics, and interactions with other organisms. Although several studies in maize have confirmed the functional utility of numerous root anatomical traits, such as that of cortical cell size and number for stress adaptation, there have been significant obstacles in measuring and analyzing root anatomical characteristics. This has resulted in gaps in our understanding of the genetic control and range of phenotypic variations among different cultivars, and how this diversity relates to overall fitness. Here, we review root anatomical phenotypes in maize and their function in stress adaptation, and briefly discuss phenotyping methods available for root anatomy. We further introduce a simple and accessible phenotyping approach that enables a comprehensive investigation of maize root anatomy. Detailed characterization of root traits and the implementation of robust methods for root anatomical phenotyping could have wide-ranging benefits across various areas of plant science, from fundamental research to enhancing crop breeding efforts.
根系解剖结构在调节植物中水分和养分的吸收与运输等重要过程中起着关键作用。根系解剖结构还会影响构建和维持根系组织的能量消耗、组织力学以及与其他生物体的相互作用。尽管在玉米方面的多项研究已经证实了许多根系解剖特征的功能效用，比如皮层细胞大小和数量对于胁迫适应的功能效用，但在测量和分析根系解剖特征方面仍存在重大障碍。这导致我们在理解不同品种间根系解剖特征的遗传控制和表型变异范围，以及这种多样性如何与整体适应性相关联方面存在空白。在此，我们综述了玉米的根系解剖表型及其在胁迫适应中的功能，并简要讨论了可用于根系解剖的表型分析方法。我们进一步介绍了一种简单且易于操作的表型分析方法，该方法能够对玉米根系解剖结构进行全面研究。对根系特征的详细表征以及采用稳健的根系解剖表型分析方法，在植物科学的各个领域都可能带来广泛益处，从基础研究到加强作物育种工作皆是如此。
