Unraveling root and rhizosphere traits in temperate maize landraces and modern cultivars: Implications for soil resource acquisition and drought adaptation

Andreas J. Wild*, Franziska A. Steiner, Marvin Kiene, Nicolas Tyborski, Shu Yin Tung, Tina Koehler, Andrea Carminati, Barbara Eder, Jennifer Groth, Wouter K. Vahl, Sebastian Wolfrum, Tillmann Lueders, Christian Laforsch, Carsten W. Mueller, Alix Vidal, Johanna Pausch

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

A holistic understanding of plant strategies to acquire soil resources is pivotal in achieving sustainable food security. However, we lack knowledge about variety-specific root and rhizosphere traits for resource acquisition, their plasticity and adaptation to drought. We conducted a greenhouse experiment to phenotype root and rhizosphere traits (mean root diameter [Root D], specific root length [SRL], root tissue density, root nitrogen content, specific rhizosheath mass [SRM], arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi [AMF] colonization) of 16 landraces and 22 modern cultivars of temperate maize (Zea mays L.). Our results demonstrate that landraces and modern cultivars diverge in their root and rhizosphere traits. Although landraces follow a ‘do-it-yourself’ strategy with high SRLs, modern cultivars exhibit an ‘outsourcing’ strategy with increased mean Root Ds and a tendency towards increased root colonization by AMF. We further identified that SRM indicates an ‘outsourcing’ strategy. Additionally, landraces were more drought-responsive compared to modern cultivars based on multitrait response indices. We suggest that breeding leads to distinct resource acquisition strategies between temperate maize varieties. Future breeding efforts should increasingly target root and rhizosphere economics, with SRM serving as a valuable proxy for identifying varieties employing an outsourcing resource acquisition strategy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2526-2541
JournalPlant Cell and Environment
Volume47
Issue number7
Early online date22 Mar 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Keywords

  • arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
  • Index for Adaptive Responses
  • phenotypic plasticity
  • rhizosheath
  • root diameter
  • root economics space
  • specific root length

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