Procedures to screen root whorls
- Germinate the seeds. Six to eight seeds of each genotype are sterilized in 0.5% NaOCl for 1 minute to remove fungicide and other infections from the seed coat. Then seeds are wrapped in paper rolls, placed in a beaker containing 500 ml of 0.5 mM CaSO4 solution. Then, the beaker is placed in a germination chamber (incubator) at 28 ° Celsius for three days in the dark.
- On the third day, seeds are evaluated for root whorls. The number of root whorls is determined by counting basal root 'rings' coming from the tissue located between shoot and root tissues in the seedling.
- The number of 'rings' in the seedling is the number of root whorls. Then, total number of basal roots is determined, by counting the basal roots coming from each root whorls. Usually, total number of basal roots in plants is directly proportional to the number of root whorls. In common beans, the number of root whorls varies from 1 to 5, depending on the genotype.
Figure 1. Common bean genotype with 2 root whorls
Figure 2. Common bean genotype with 3 root whorls
Figure 3. Common bean genotype with 4 whorls, 14 basal roots
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Jagdeep Sidhu and Sam Walker win awards at 2022 CSA (Crop Science, Soil Science, Agronomy Societies) meetings
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Publication receives award from Crop Science Society of America
Tools for breeding cowpea with better roots highlighted in CSA news article
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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
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News story on bean root architecture reaches 6 million people, worth $240,000
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