Investigation of Root Morphological and Architectural Traits in Adzuki Bean (Vigna angularis) Cultivars Using Imagery Data

초록

Roots play important roles in water and nutrient uptake and in response to various environmental stresses. Investigating diversification of cultivars through root phenotyping is important for crop improvement in adzuki beans. Therefore, we analyzed the morphological and architectural root traits of 22 adzuki bean cultivars using 2-dimensional (2D) root imaging. Plants were grown in plastic tubes [6 cm (diameter) × 40 cm (height)] in a greenhouse from July 25th to August 28th. When the plants reached the 2nd or 3rd trifoliate leaf stage, the roots were removed and washed with tap water to remove soil particles. Clean root samples were scanned, and the scanned images were analyzed using the WinRHIZO Pro software. The cultivars were analyzed based on six root phenotypes [total root length (TRL), surface area (SA), average diameter (AD), and number of tips (NT) were included as root morphological traits (RMT); and link average length (LAL) and link average diameter (LAD) were included as root architectural traits (RAT)]. According to the analysis of variance (ANOVA), a significant difference was observed between the cultivars for all root morphological traits. Distribution analysis demonstrated that all root traits except LAL followed a normally distributed curve. In the correlation test, the most important morphological trait, TRL, showed a strong positive correlation with SA (r = 0.97***) and NT (r = 0.94***). In comparison, between RMT and RAT, TRL showed a significantly negative correlation with LAL (r = -0.50***); however, TRL did not show a correlation with LAD. Based on RMT and RAT, we identified the cultivars that ranked 5% from the top and bottom. In particular, the cultivar “IT 236657” showed the highest TRL, SA, and NT, while the cultivar “IT 236169” showed the lowest values for TRL, SA, and NT. In addition, the coefficient of variance for the six tested root traits ranged from (14.26-40%) which suggested statistical variability in root phenotypes among the 22 adzuki bean varieties. Thus, this study will help to select target root traits for the adzuki bean breeding program in the future, generating climate-resilient adzuki beans, especially for drought stress, and may be useful for developing biotic and abiotic stress-tolerant cultivars based on better root trait attributes.

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