Multiple brace root phenotypes promote anchorage and limit root lodging in maize.

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Plant Biology
• Genetics

Background:

• Plant mechanical failure, known as lodging, results in substantial global yield losses in cereal crops, ranging from 7% to 66%.
• Above-ground nodal roots, or brace roots, in maize have been identified as critical structures for plant anchorage.
• The variation in brace root phenotypes across different maize genotypes and their functional implications for lodging resistance remain largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the contribution of brace roots to anchorage and assess root lodging susceptibility in a diverse set of 52 maize inbred lines.
• To investigate the relationship between brace root traits, plant architecture, and overall lodging resistance.
• To develop predictive models for brace root anchorage and lodging susceptibility based on plant architectural traits.

Main Methods:

• Phenotypic evaluation of brace root contribution to anchorage, brace root traits, plant height, and root lodging susceptibility across 52 maize inbred lines.
• Statistical analysis to determine the influence of plant architectural variation on brace root anchorage and lodging susceptibility.
• Development and application of supervised machine learning models to predict brace root anchorage and lodging susceptibility using plant architectural phenotypes.

Main Results:

• Significant genotypic variation was observed in the contribution of brace roots to anchorage and in root lodging susceptibility.
• Plant architectural variation was found to explain the differences in brace root contribution to anchorage and lodging susceptibility.
• Machine learning models successfully predicted brace root anchorage and lodging susceptibility using multiple plant architectural phenotypes.

Conclusions:

• The study defines key plant architectures associated with improved lodging resistance in maize.
• The contribution of brace roots to anchorage serves as a reliable proxy for assessing root lodging susceptibility.
• Understanding these relationships can inform breeding strategies to enhance crop stability and reduce yield losses due to lodging.