Root architecture can be targeted in breeding programs to develop crops with better capture
of water and nutrients. In rich nations, such crops would reduce production costs and …

Nutrient‐efficient crops are a solution to the two grand challenges of modern agriculture:
improving food security while reducing environmental impacts. The primary challenges are …

Background Suboptimal water and nutrient availability are primary constraints in global
agriculture. Root anatomy plays key roles in soil resource acquisition. In this article we …

Plant roots play a significant role in plant growth by exploiting soil resources via the uptake
of water and nutrients. Root traits such as fine root diameter, specific root length, specific root …

Geneticists and breeders are positioned to breed plants with root traits that improve
productivity under drought. However, a better understanding of root functional traits and how …

Asymmetry of investment in crop research leads to knowledge gaps and lost opportunities to
accelerate genetic gain through identifying new sources and combinations of traits and …

Root phenotypic plasticity has been proposed as a target for the development of more
productive crops in variable environments. However, the plasticity of root anatomical and …

Background A hypothetical ideotype is presented to optimize water and N acquisition by
maize root systems. The overall premise is that soil resource acquisition is optimized by the …

Most plant roots have multiple cortex layers that make up the bulk of the organ and play key
roles in physiology, such as flood tolerance and symbiosis. However, little is known about …

Greater exploitation of subsoil resources by annual crops would afford multiple benefits,
including greater water and N acquisition in most agroecosystems, and greater …