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. 2023 Jun 30;12(13):2513.
doi: 10.3390/plants12132513.

On the Possible Trade-Off between Shoot and Root Biomass in Wheat

Harun Bektas  1   2 , Christopher E Hohn  2 , Adam J Lukaszewski  2 , John Giles Waines  2
Affiliations

On the Possible Trade-Off between Shoot and Root Biomass in Wheat

Harun Bektas et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown that under a limited water supply, a larger root biomass is associated with an increased above-ground biomass. Root biomass, while genetically controlled, is also greatly affected by the environment with varying plasticity levels. In this context, understanding the relationship between the biomass of shoots and roots appears prudent. In this study, we analyze this relationship in a large dataset collected from multiple experiments conducted up to different growth stages in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and its wild relatives. Four bread wheat mapping populations as well as wild and domesticated members of the Triticeae tribe were evaluated for the root and shoot biomass allocation patterns. In the analyzed dataset the root and shoot biomasses were directly related to each other, and to the heading date, and the correlation values increased in proportion to the length of an experiment. On average, 84.1% of the observed variation was explained by a positive correlation between shoot and root biomass. Scatter plots generated from 6353 data points from numerous experiments with different wheats suggest that at some point, further increases in root biomass negatively impact the shoot biomass. Based on these results, a preliminary study with different water availability scenarios and growth conditions was designed with two cultivars, Pavon 76 and Yecora Rojo. The duration of drought and water level significantly affected the root/shoot biomass allocation patterns. However, the responses of the two cultivars were quite different, suggesting that the point of diminishing returns in increasing root biomass may be different for different wheats, reinforcing the need to breed wheats for specific environmental challenges.

Keywords: biomass allocation; bread wheat; drought stress; root/shoot ratio; trade-off.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scatter plots for the combined data of root biomass (RM; g) and shoot biomass (SM; g), and grain yield (GY; g) in various experiments conducted at the University of California, Riverside. Each point represents a single plant from experiments carried to; (a) maturity, (b) for 40 to 70 days, and (c) for 21 to 28 days. Plot a shows the relationship between the root mass and the shoot mass or grain yield (GY); plots b and c show the relationships between the root mass (RM) and the shoot mass (SM). Note that plots are on different scales (Loess α = 0.75).
Figure 1
Figure 1
Scatter plots for the combined data of root biomass (RM; g) and shoot biomass (SM; g), and grain yield (GY; g) in various experiments conducted at the University of California, Riverside. Each point represents a single plant from experiments carried to; (a) maturity, (b) for 40 to 70 days, and (c) for 21 to 28 days. Plot a shows the relationship between the root mass and the shoot mass or grain yield (GY); plots b and c show the relationships between the root mass (RM) and the shoot mass (SM). Note that plots are on different scales (Loess α = 0.75).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bar graphs displaying the results for (a,b) Pavon 76 and (c,d) Yecora Rojo from the pot system used in the trade-off experiments. Means followed by different letters within columns are different according to the least significant difference (LSD) test at p ≤ 0.05. Letter designations: a–c: grain yield (Yield), d–e: shoot biomass, f–h: root biomass. Treatments were: drought at anthesis, drought at heading, and drought at booting.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bar graphs displaying the results for (a,b) Pavon 76 and (c,d) Yecora Rojo from the pot system used in the trade-off experiments. Means followed by different letters within columns are different according to the least significant difference (LSD) test at p ≤ 0.05. Letter designations: a–c: grain yield (Yield), d–e: shoot biomass, f–h: root biomass. Treatments were: drought at anthesis, drought at heading, and drought at booting.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bar graphs displaying the results for (a,b) Pavon 76 and (c,d) Yecora Rojo from the pot system used in the trade-off experiments. Means followed by different letters within columns are different according to the least significant difference (LSD) test at p ≤ 0.05. Letter designations: a–c: grain yield (Yield), d–e: shoot biomass, f–h: root biomass. Treatments were: drought at anthesis, drought at heading, and drought at booting.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bar graphs displaying the results for (a,b) Pavon 76 and (c,d) Yecora Rojo from the tube system used in the trade-off experiments. Means followed by different letters within columns are different according to the least significant difference (LSD) test at p ≤ 0.05. Letters are designated alphabetically (each trait given with different letter groups) and note that the groupings were different for Pavon 76 and Yecora Rojo. Yield: grain yield.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bar graphs displaying the results for (a,b) Pavon 76 and (c,d) Yecora Rojo from the tube system used in the trade-off experiments. Means followed by different letters within columns are different according to the least significant difference (LSD) test at p ≤ 0.05. Letters are designated alphabetically (each trait given with different letter groups) and note that the groupings were different for Pavon 76 and Yecora Rojo. Yield: grain yield.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Scatter plots for root biomass (RM) in grams plotted against shoot biomass (SM) and grain yield (YLD) in grams for cultivars (a) Pavon 76 and (b) Yecora Rojo. Data shown are combined from both systems used in the trade-off experiments. Note that scatter plots are on different scales (Loess α = 2.0).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Scatter plots for root biomass (RM) in grams plotted against shoot biomass (SM) and grain yield (YLD) in grams for cultivars (a) Pavon 76 and (b) Yecora Rojo. Data shown are combined from both systems used in the trade-off experiments. Note that scatter plots are on different scales (Loess α = 2.0).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Illustration of the trade-off PVC tube experiment conducted with cvs. Pavon 76 and Yecora Rojo. Shallow treatment (a) had an ample amount of water kept at a 50 cm level until the end of the experiment. In deep treatments (b,c) water level was progressively reduced (early growth stages as (b), later as (c)) as roots grow deep into the tube, to make roots chase the water. Control tubes were watered daily from the top.
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