Roots Lab

The overall research focus of the Roots Lab at Penn State is understanding the genetic, physiological, and ecological basis of plant adaptation to drought and low soil fertility.

Since most soils on earth suffer from drought and one or more nutritional problems, this subject is of considerable importance for two of the great challenges confronting humanity: how to sustainably support over 7 billion people, and how to deal with global environmental change. More about the Roots Lab ...

Latest Publications

April 29, 2022

Developmental morphology and anatomy shed light on both parallel and convergent evolution of the umbellate inflorescence in Monocots, underlied by a new variant of metatopy.

April 22, 2022

Gradual domestication of root traits in the earliest maize from Tehuacan

April 13, 2022

The importance of edaphic stress interactions for plant function: important yet poorly understood drivers of plant production in future climates.

April 11, 2022

Multi-objective optimization of root phenotypes for nutrient acquisition using evolutionary algorithms

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Spotlight

Jonathan Lynch recognized as highly cited researcher in 2021 by Clarivate Publication receives award from Crop Science Society of America Tools for breeding cowpea with better roots highlighted in CSA news article Breeding Beans for Better Roots Professor Kathleen Brown retires after 41 years Amelia Henry receives humanitarian award Jagdeep Sidhu receives research award Roots lab research focus of podcast from West German Public Radio Newly discovered trait helps plants grow deeper roots in dry, compacted soils | Penn State University CSA news article on Roots Lab work with bean breeding Jagdeep Sidhu Receives College Research Funding Jonathan Lynch recognized as Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Graduate student receives special award for early career contributions to ASPB LAT root image wins photo competition of Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research Graduate student awarded Outstanding Agricultural Graduate Student Award from AASIO News story on bean root architecture reaches 6 million people, worth $240,000 Bean root architecture results highlighted in CSSA News Field work proceeds with physical distancing, safety precautions