Transcription factor bHLH121 regulates root cortical aerenchyma formation in maize.

ABSTRACT: Root anatomical phenotypes present a promising yet underexploited avenue to deliver major improvements in yield and climate resilience of crops by improving water and nutrient uptake. For instance, the formation of root cortical aerenchyma (RCA) significantly increases soil exploration and resource capture by reducing the metabolic costs of root tissue. A key bottleneck in studying such phenotypes has been the lack of robust high-throughput anatomical phenotyping platforms. We exploited a phenotyping approach based on laser ablation tomography, termed Anatomics, to quantify variation in RCA formation of 436 diverse maize lines in the field. Results revealed a significant and heritable variation for RCA formation. Genome-wide association studies identified a single-nucleotide polymor

SUBMITTER: Schneider HM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10041174 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature