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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.06.30.180059

DIRT/3D: 3D phenotyping for maize (Zea mays) root architecture in the field

Liu, S.·Barrow, C.·Hanlon, M. T.·Lynch, J.·Bucksch, A.
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Abstract

The development of crops with deeper roots holds substantial promise to mitigate the consequences of climate change. Deeper roots are an essential factor to improve water uptake as a way to enhance crop resilience to drought, to increase nitrogen capture, to reduce fertilizer inputs and, to increase carbon sequestration from the atmosphere to improve soil organic fertility. A major bottleneck to achieving these improvements is high-throughput phenotyping to quantify root phenotypes of field-grown roots. We address this bottleneck with DIRT/3D, a newly developed image-based 3D root phenotyping platform, which measures 18 architecture traits from mature field-grown maize root crowns excavated with the Shovelomics technique. DIRT/3D reliably computed all 18 traits, including distance between whorls and the number, angles, and diameters of nodal roots, on a test panel of 12 contrasting maize genotypes. The computed results were validated through comparison with manual measurements. Overall, we observed a coefficient of determination of r2>0.84 and a high broad-sense heritability of [Formula] for all but one trait. The average values of the 18 traits and a newly developed descriptor to characterize a complete root architecture distinguished all genotypes. DIRT/3D is a step towards automated quantification of highly occluded maize root crowns. Therefore, DIRT/3D supports breeders and root biologists in improving carbon sequestration and food security in the face of the adverse effects of climate change.

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Liu, S., Barrow, C., Hanlon, M. T., Lynch, J., Bucksch, A.. 2020-07-02. DIRT/3D: 3D phenotyping for maize (Zea mays) root architecture in the field. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.30.180059

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