ArticleAnnals of botany2016
Impact of axial root growth angles on nitrogen acquisition in maize depends on environmental conditions.
Article in Annals of botany, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed.
- Broad environmental adaptation is associated with root anatomical phenotypes in maize landraces: an in silico study.Annals of botany · 2026Article
- Machine Learning-Driven Construction of High-Yielding Cucumber Plant Architectures in Greenhouse Environments.Plant biotechnology journal · 2026Article
- Diversity of Root System Architecture in Mediterranean Maize Inbred Lines Provides New Breeding Opportunities to Improve Stress Resilience and Resource Efficiency.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Did crop domestication change the fitness landscape of root response to soil mechanical impedance? An in silico analysis.Annals of botany · 2025Article
- Mineral acquisition from a different angle - how the root angle in cereals determines nutrient uptake.The New phytologist · 2025Review
- ClearDepth: a simple, robust, and low-cost method to assess root depth in soil.The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology · 2025Article
- Auxin synthesis promotes N metabolism and optimizes root structure enhancing N acquirement in maize (Zea mays L.).Planta · 2024Article
- Root system architecture associated zinc variability in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Root phenotypes for improved nitrogen capture.Plant and soil · 2024Review
- The crucial role of lateral root angle in enhancing drought resilience in cotton.Frontiers in plant science · 2024Article
- Large root cortical cells and reduced cortical cell files improve growth under suboptimal nitrogen in silico.Plant physiology · 2023Article
- Lateral root elongation enhances nitrogen-use efficiency in maize genotypes at the seedling stage.Journal of the science of food and agriculture · 2022Article
- Multi-objective optimization of root phenotypes for nutrient capture using evolutionary algorithms.The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology · 2022Article
- Integrated root phenotypes for improved rice performance under low nitrogen availability.Plant, cell & environment · 2022Article
- Root angle in maize influences nitrogen capture and is regulated by calcineurin B-like protein (CBL)-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 15 (ZmCIPK15).Plant, cell & environment · 2022Article
- Theoretical evidence that root penetration ability interacts with soil compaction regimes to affect nitrate capture.Annals of botany · 2022Article
- Article
- Plant Gravitropism: From Mechanistic Insights into Plant Function on Earth to Plants Colonizing Other Worlds.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2022Review
- Harnessing root architecture to address global challenges.The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology · 2022Review
- Many paths to one goal: Identifying integrated rice root phenotypes for diverse drought environments.Frontiers in plant science · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUNDS AND
aimsCrops with reduced requirement for nitrogen (N) fertilizer would have substantial benefits in developed nations, while improving food security in developing nations. This study employs the functional structural plant model SimRoot to test the hypothesis that variation in the growth angles of axial roots of maize (Zea mays L.) is an important determinant of N capture.
methodsSix phenotypes contrasting in axial root growth angles were modelled for 42 d at seven soil nitrate levels from 10 to 250 kg ha(-1) in a sand and a silt loam, and five precipitation regimes ranging from 0·5× to 1·5× of an ambient rainfall pattern. Model results were compared with soil N measurements of field sites with silt loam and loamy sand textures. KEY
resultsFor optimal nitrate uptake, root foraging must coincide with nitrate availability in the soil profile, which depends on soil type and precipitation regime. The benefit of specific root architectures for efficient N uptake increases with decreasing soil N content, while the effect of soil type increases with increasing soil N level. Extreme root architectures are beneficial under extreme environmental conditions. Extremely shallow root systems perform well under reduced precipitation, but perform poorly with ambient and greater precipitation. Dimorphic phenotypes with normal or shallow seminal and very steep nodal roots performed well in all scenarios, and consistently outperformed the steep phenotypes. Nitrate uptake increased under reduced leaching conditions in the silt loam and with low precipitation.
conclusionsResults support the hypothesis that root growth angles are primary determinants of N acquisition in maize. With decreasing soil N status, optimal angles resulted in 15-50 % greater N acquisition over 42 d. Optimal root phenotypes for N capture varied with soil and precipitation regimes, suggesting that genetic selection for root phenotypes could be tailored to specific environments.
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