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Updated: Dec 7, 2025

A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits
Published on: February 10, 2023
Looking for Root Hairs to Overcome Poor Soils
Thanyakorn Rongsawat1, Jean-Benoît Peltier1, Jean-Christophe Boyer1
1Biochimie et Physiologie Moléculaire des Plantes, UMR BPMP, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, INRAE, Montpellier SupAgro, Montpellier 34060, France.
Abstract:
Breeding new cultivars allowing reduced fertilization and irrigation is a major challenge. International efforts towards this goal focus on noninvasive methodologies, platforms for high-throughput phenotyping of large plant populations, and quantitative description of root traits as predictors of crop performance in environments with limited water and nutrient availability. However, these high-throughput analyses ignore one crucial component of the root system: root hairs (RHs). Here, we review current knowledge on RH functions, mainly in the context of plant hydromineral nutrition, and take stock of quantitative genetics data pointing at correlations between RH traits and plant biomass production and yield components.
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