We propose to research two new root traits for drought tolerance, Basal Root Growth Angle (BRGA) plasticity in response to soil stress, and Basal Root Whorl Number (BRWN).
An investigation into the utility of anatomical root traits for drought tolerance yielded novel insights in maize physiology and high-throughput phenotyping.
Development of the Ukulima Root Biology Center as a research platform for generation of new crop varieties and cropping systems adapted to the stressful soils of eastern and southern Africa.
The long-term goal of this project is to use genome-wide approaches to identify genes responsible for root system architecture (RSA) traits.
Recent developments in our understanding of root function will allow us to breed new bean varieties for drought prone areas with poor soil fertility.
We propose to employ recent discoveries in root biology to develop maize varieties with enhanced acquisition of soil resources by exploiting genetic variation for root traits that reduce the metabolic cost of soil exploration.
Much of the research of this lab has implications for the ecological understanding of plant competition mediated by roots.
Understanding the physiological and genetic basis of root traits enhancing water acquisition by plants to enable the breeding of more stress tolerant crops
This is the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Climate Resilient Beans, a USAID project led by principle investigator Dr. Jonathan Lynch at Penn State. The project is titled "An Integrated Program to Accelerate Breeding of Resilient, More Productive Beans for Smallholder Farmers".
