Journal of Plant Biochemistry & Physiology
Open Access

Abstract

Root Phenomics-New Windows to Understand Plant Performance and Increase Crop Productivity

Michael Gomez Selvaraj, Satoshi Ogawa and Manabu Ishitani

Roots with ideal characteristics are important for sustaining crop yields, particularly when plants are grown in soils with inadequate water and nutrients [1-4]. Understanding the development of roots and their interaction with the soil environment is vital to manipulate the root traits, and ultimately, the food security [5]. For instance, rice has a significant level of genetic variation in root traits [6-9], that can be harnessed for improving its adaptation to abiotic stresses. However, genetic improvement of root systems through phenotypic selection at the breeding level is impractical due to complexity in phenotyping root traits [3,10,11].

Published Date: 2013-10-28; Received Date: 2013-04-26