DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS TO EVALUATE THE UTILITY OF GRAIN LEGUME ROOT ARCHITECTURE

Open Access
- Author:
- Burridge, James David
- Graduate Program:
- Horticulture
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- October 04, 2017
- Committee Members:
- Jonathan Paul Lynch, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Jonathan Paul Lynch, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Kathleen Marie Brown, Committee Member
Mark Guiltinan, Committee Member
David A Mortensen, Outside Member - Keywords:
- common bean
drought
phosphorus
co-optimization
cowpea
root architecture - Abstract:
- Grain legumes are important for small-holder farmers and the socio-economic stability of the world. They supply proteins to humans and animals and contribute biologically fixed nitrogen to following crops. Low phosphorus (P) availability and drought are primary constraints to legume production in developing countries. Genetic variation in particular root architectural phenes of grain legumes are associated with improved acquisition of water and phosphorus. Quantitative evaluation of root architectural phenotypes of mature plants in the field is challenging. Nonetheless, in situ phenotyping captures responses to environmental variation and is critical to improving crop performance in the target environment. This dissertation presents root architectural phenotyping techniques for common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and several other critical grain legumes. Chapter 1 presents the phenotyping techniques. Chapter 2 connects cowpea root architecture to performance through genetic co-localizations, which is a novel contribution for cowpea. Chapter 3 presents results from phenotyping of other grain legumes, identifies root architectural patterns in and among species and discusses opportunities and challenges for physiologists and plant breeders in developing more stress tolerant varieties.