Uncovering natural variation in root system architecture dynamics
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The plant kingdom contains an immense array of complex morphologies that provide adaptive advantages for life on Earth. While we can easily observe the stunning diversity of plant form in the above-ground portions of plants, it is much more difficult below ground. As the interface between the soil environment and the shoot system, roots play a key role in plant anchorage and resource uptake. The distribution of roots, termed root system architecture (RSA), is determined by root growth and branching and is influenced by the surrounding environment. GLO-Roots (Growth and Luminescence Observatory for Roots) is a new soil-based root imaging technology, which enables detailed observations of Arabidopsis thaliana root system growth in soil. Expanding upon this system using automation, we developed GLO-Bot, a linear-rail robot designed to accurately manipulate the position of plants, which enables automated watering and treatment of plants, and time-lapse imaging of root luminescence reporters. To take advantage of this technological improvement in plant growth and imaging, I improved and further developed a data analysis pipeline to extract root traits from these images in order to quantitatively describe changes in RSA. I examined architectural diversity amongst six diverse accessions and observed differences in how the spatial distribution of roots within the soil changed over time. I then characterized a larger diverse population of 93 Arabidopsis accessions and found root angle to be a major driving force in determining RSA diversity. I uncovered correlations between traits and climate variables which suggested that roots with shallow angles are found in climates with larger diurnal changes in temperature. Finally, I performed multiple genome wide association (GWA) analyses, which identified putative alleles involved in controlling RSA. Future experiments simulating stressful environmental conditions could elucidate how these factors aid in plant fitness.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2020; ©2020 |
| Publication date | 2020; 2020 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | LaRue, Therese Suren |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Dinneny, José R |
| Thesis advisor | Dinneny, José R |
| Thesis advisor | Bergmann, Dominique |
| Thesis advisor | Exposito-Alonso, Moises |
| Thesis advisor | Long, Sharon R |
| Degree committee member | Bergmann, Dominique |
| Degree committee member | Exposito-Alonso, Moises |
| Degree committee member | Long, Sharon R |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Biology |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Thérèse Suren LaRue. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Biology. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2020. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2020 by Therese Suren LaRue
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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