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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Evaluation by grafting technique of changes in the contribution of root-to-shoot development and biomass production in soybean (Glycine max) cultivars released from 1929 to 2006 in China

Xiaoning Cao A B C * , Tingting Wu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3464-1511 A * , Shi Sun A * , Cunxiang Wu A , Caijie Wang A , Bingjun Jiang A , Jinlu Tao A , Weiwei Yao A , Wensheng Hou A , Wenyu Yang B E , Kadambot H. M. Siddique D and Tianfu Han A E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A MARA Key Laboratory of Soybean Biology (Beijing), Institute of Crop Sciences, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China 100081.

B College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China 611130.

C Institute of Crop Germplasm Resources, Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China 030031.

D The UWA Institute of Agriculture and School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, M082, LB 5005, Perth, WA 6001, Australia.

E Corresponding authors. Email: hantianfu@caas.cn; mssiyangwy@sicau.edu.cn

Crop and Pasture Science 70(7) 585-594 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP19052
Submitted: 21 June 2018  Accepted: 4 June 2019   Published: 26 July 2019

Journal Compilation © CSIRO 2019 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND

Abstract

Root traits are essential for optimising nutrient and water absorption and anchorage. However, changes in root traits and the contribution of root-to-shoot growth and development of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) across a century of breeding are poorly documented. In this study, we adopted a grafting technique, using 55 cultivars released in the three main soybean-production regions in China as rootstocks in a pot experiment and 24 cultivars from the Yellow-Huai-Hai Valley (YHH) region as rootstocks in a field experiment, with cv. Zigongdongdou as the common scion. Changes in soybean roots, including dry weight (DW) of roots, lateral root number (LRN) and taproot length (TRL), and their contribution to shoot development and biomass formation, including shoot DW, plant height and node number, were evaluated under optimal conditions in 2011. Aboveground traits declined with year of release in the YHH region and did not vary over time in the northern Heilongjiang province and mid-south Heilongjiang region except for shoot DW. The root traits root DW, LRN and TRL were similar over years of release in the pot and field experiments. The results suggest that the newer cultivars have lesser shoot growth and root capacity but the same amount of root growth as older cultivars. Root traits did not change during selection, suggesting that improvement in soybean root traits should be an aim in future breeding.

Additional keywords: evolutionary change, root traits, shoot, soybean.


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