Root architectural tradeoffs for water and phosphorus acquisition
Melissa D. Ho A , Juan Carlos Rosas B , Kathleen M. Brown A C and Jonathan P. Lynch A C DA Intercollege Program in Plant Physiology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 USA.
B Programa de Investigaciones en Frijol, Zamorano-EAP, P.O. Box 93, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
C Department of Horticulture, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 USA.
D Corresponding author. Email: JPL4@psu.edu
Functional Plant Biology 32(8) 737-748 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP05043
Submitted: 23 February 2005 Accepted: 2 May 2005 Published: 3 August 2005
Abstract
Root architectural traits that increase topsoil foraging are advantageous for phosphorus acquisition but may incur tradeoffs for the acquisition of deep soil resources such as water. To examine this relationship, common bean genotypes contrasting for rooting depth were grown in the field and in the greenhouse with phosphorus stress, water stress and combined phosphorus and water stress. In the greenhouse, water and phosphorus availability were vertically stratified to approximate field conditions, with higher phosphorus in the upper layer and more moisture in the bottom layer. Under phosphorus stress, shallow-rooted genotypes grew best, whereas under drought stress, deep-rooted genotypes grew best. In the combined stress treatment, the best genotype in the greenhouse had a dimorphic root system that permitted vigorous rooting throughout the soil profile. In the field, shallow-rooted genotypes surpassed deep-rooted genotypes under combined stress. This may reflect the importance of early vegetative growth in terminal drought environments. Our results support the hypothesis that root architectural tradeoffs exist for multiple resource acquisition, particularly when resources are differentially localised in the soil profile. Architectural plasticity and root dimorphism achieved through complementary growth of distinct root classes may be important means to optimise acquisition of multiple soil resources.
Keywords: drought, functional tradeoffs, multiple resource acquisition, Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean), phosphorus, root architecture.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology NSF grant no. 0135872 to JPL and KB, with additional support from the USAID Bean / Cowpea CRSP to JCR and JPL and AED / NSEP to MDH. We thank R. Snyder for greenhouse and lab support, L. Andersen, N. Barto and D. Eissenstat for help with initial setup of the TDR system and A. Stephenson, K. Shea and H. Skinner for helpful discussions on statistics and experimental design. We thank J. Kelly and M. Frahm at MSU for providing seed of the L88 population and for helpful discussions. Last but certainly not least, thanks go to B. Reyes and all of the dedicated members of PIF, and to the members of the Lynch and Brown labs for their invaluable help and good humour in the field and greenhouse, respectively.
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