Maize brace roots provide stalk anchorage. (8th November 2020)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Maize brace roots provide stalk anchorage. (8th November 2020)
- Main Title:
- Maize brace roots provide stalk anchorage
- Authors:
- Reneau, Jonathan W.
Khangura, Rajdeep S.
Stager, Adam
Erndwein, Lindsay
Weldekidan, Teclemariam
Cook, Douglas D.
Dilkes, Brian P.
Sparks, Erin E. - Abstract:
- Abstract: Mechanical failure, known as lodging, negatively impacts yield and grain quality in crops. Limiting crop loss from lodging requires an understanding of the plant traits that contribute to lodging‐resistance. In maize, specialized aerial brace roots are reported to reduce root lodging. However, their direct contribution to plant biomechanics has not been measured. In this manuscript, we use a non‐destructive field‐based mechanical test on plants before and after the removal of brace roots. This precisely determines the contribution of brace roots to establish a rigid base (i.e. stalk anchorage) that limits plant deflection in maize. These measurements demonstrate that the more brace root whorls that contact the soil, the greater their overall contribution to anchorage, but that the contributions of each whorl to anchorage were not equal. Previous studies demonstrated that the number of nodes that produce brace roots is correlated with flowering time in maize. To determine if flowering time selection alters the brace root contribution to anchorage, a subset of the Hallauer's Tusón tropical population was analyzed. Despite significant variation in flowering time and anchorage, selection neither altered the number of brace root whorls in the soil nor the overall contribution of brace roots to anchorage. These results demonstrate that brace roots provide a rigid base in maize and that the contribution of brace roots to anchorage was not linearly related to floweringAbstract: Mechanical failure, known as lodging, negatively impacts yield and grain quality in crops. Limiting crop loss from lodging requires an understanding of the plant traits that contribute to lodging‐resistance. In maize, specialized aerial brace roots are reported to reduce root lodging. However, their direct contribution to plant biomechanics has not been measured. In this manuscript, we use a non‐destructive field‐based mechanical test on plants before and after the removal of brace roots. This precisely determines the contribution of brace roots to establish a rigid base (i.e. stalk anchorage) that limits plant deflection in maize. These measurements demonstrate that the more brace root whorls that contact the soil, the greater their overall contribution to anchorage, but that the contributions of each whorl to anchorage were not equal. Previous studies demonstrated that the number of nodes that produce brace roots is correlated with flowering time in maize. To determine if flowering time selection alters the brace root contribution to anchorage, a subset of the Hallauer's Tusón tropical population was analyzed. Despite significant variation in flowering time and anchorage, selection neither altered the number of brace root whorls in the soil nor the overall contribution of brace roots to anchorage. These results demonstrate that brace roots provide a rigid base in maize and that the contribution of brace roots to anchorage was not linearly related to flowering time. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Plant direct. Volume 4:Number 11(2020)
- Journal:
- Plant direct
- Issue:
- Volume 4:Number 11(2020)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 4, Issue 11 (2020)
- Year:
- 2020
- Volume:
- 4
- Issue:
- 11
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2020-0004-0011-0000
- Page Start:
- n/a
- Page End:
- n/a
- Publication Date:
- 2020-11-08
- Subjects:
- anchorage -- biomechanics -- brace roots -- maize -- root lodging
Plants -- Periodicals
Botany -- Periodicals
571.205 - Journal URLs:
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)2475-4455 ↗
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1002/pld3.284 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 2475-4455
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 14853.xml