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Timelapse scanning reveals spatial variation in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) root elongation rates during partial waterlogging

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Abstract

Background and aims

Root systems show considerable plasticity in their morphology and physiology in response to variability within their environment. Root elongation below a water-table was expected to slow due to hypoxia, whilst roots above the waterlogged zone were expected to compensate by increasing elongation rates.

Methods

Tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.) were grown in peat in root chambers (300 × 215 × 6 mm) with a transparent front. Root chambers were maintained in flatbed scanners tilted at 30° to vertical and scanned every 3 h before, during and after waterlogging the lower layer for 24 h or 5 days. Root elongation rates were calculated from the displacement of randomly selected root tips between successive scans. Oxygen content was determined in the waterlogged layer and plant and root parameters were determined at cessation of the experiment.

Results

Root elongation rates decreased rapidly when waterlogged. Growth rates of the waterlogged roots decreased, while growth rates of roots above the waterlogged zone increased. In 24 h waterlogged roots new lateral root growth occurred in the lower layer of the root chamber when water was drained while after 5 day waterlogging new root growth had to be initiated from roots above the waterlogged zone.

Conclusions

Plants increased growth rates in roots above the waterlogged zone probably as compensation for the suboptimal conditions in the waterlogged zone which eventually led to roots dying.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Helle Kjærsgaard Sørensen, Ruth Nielsen, Kaj Ole Didriksen and Connie Damgaard for skilful technical assistance. Funding was provided from The Danish Council for Independent Research | Technology and Production Sciences (Ref. no. 09-061045). The James Hutton Institute receives financial support from the Scottish Government.

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Author notes

  1. Dorte Bodin Dresbøll

    Present address: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Højbakkegård Allé 13, 2630, Taastrup, Denmark

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, Kirstinebjergvej 10, 5792, Aarslev, Denmark

    Dorte Bodin Dresbøll

  2. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Højbakkegård Allé 13, 2630, Taastrup, Denmark

    Kristian Thorup-Kristensen

  3. The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA, Scotland, UK

    Blair M. McKenzie, Lionel Xavier Dupuy & A. Glyn Bengough

  4. Division of Civil Engineering, University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK

    A. Glyn Bengough

Authors
  1. Dorte Bodin Dresbøll
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  2. Kristian Thorup-Kristensen
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  3. Blair M. McKenzie
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  4. Lionel Xavier Dupuy
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  5. A. Glyn Bengough
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Correspondence to Dorte Bodin Dresbøll.

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Responsible Editor: Alain Pierret.

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Dresbøll, D.B., Thorup-Kristensen, K., McKenzie, B.M. et al. Timelapse scanning reveals spatial variation in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) root elongation rates during partial waterlogging. Plant Soil 369, 467–477 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1592-5

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