Name: a simple protocol for mapping the plant root system architecture traits
Uploaded: 2023-02-10T13:10:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits at JoVE.com

We acknowledge the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Grant 58-6406-1-017) for supporting this research. We also acknowledge the WKU Biotechnology Centre, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, USA, and the Director, CSIR Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, India, for providing the instrument facilities and support (CSIR CIMAP manuscript communication no. CIMAP/PUB/2022/103).&#160;SS acknowledges the financial support from Saint Joseph&#39;s University, Philadelphia, USA.

The whole protocol is summarized schematically in Figure 1, showing all the essential steps involved in revealing the root system architecture (RSA) of plantlets. Protocol steps are given in detail below:
1. Arabidopsis seed surface sterilization
<ol>
	<li>Transfer a tiny scoop (approximately 100 seeds = approximately 2.5 mg) of seeds to a microfuge tube, and soak for 30 min in distilled water at room temperature (RT). This entire procedure is c...

<ol>
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This work demonstrated mapping RSA utilizing simple laboratory equipment. Using this method, phenotypic alterations are recorded at the refined level. The benefit of this strategy is that the shoot portion never comes in contact with the media, so the phenotype of the plantlets is original. This method involves setting up a hydroponic system to grow plantlets as described in the protocol. Then, each plantlet is taken out intact and placed on an agar-filled Petri plate. The root system is then allowed to spread manually u...

The root system architecture (RSA), which is underground, is a vital organ for plant growth and productivity1,2,3. After the embryonic stage, plants undergo their most significant morphological changes. The way in which the roots grow in the soil greatly affects the growth of plant parts above ground. Root growth is the first step in germination. It is an informative trait as it uniquely responds to different available nutrients1,2,3,4. The RSA exhibits a high degree of developmental plasticity, which means that the environment is always used to make decisions about development2,5. Changes in the environment have made crop production more difficult in the present scenario. On a continuous basis, the RSA incorporates environmental signals into developmental choices5. As a result, a thorough understanding of the principles behind root development is essential for learning how plants respond to changing environments2,5.
The RSA senses varying nutrient concentrations and renders phenotypic alterations4,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. Studies suggest that root morphology/RSA is highly plastic compared to shoot morphology1,3. RSA trait mapping is highly effective in recording the effect of changing the surrounding soil environment1,11,12.
In general, discrepancies in the effect of various nutrient deficiencies on the root phenotype have been reported in many earlier studies3,11,13,14,15. For example, there are several contrasting reports on phosphate (Pi) starvation-induced changes in the number, length, and density of lateral roots (LRs). An increase in LR density has been reported under the Pi deficient condition6,8. In contrast, a decrease in LR density under Pi deficient conditions has also been reported by other authors3,13,16. One of the prominent causes of these inconsistencies is the use of the elemental contamination-prone gelling medium, which agar often contains10. Researchers typically grow their experimental plants on an agar-based plate system and record the root traits. Numerous RSA traits are frequently concealed or entrenched within the agar material and cannot be documented. Experiments linked to inducing nutrient deficiency, in which users often exclude one component totally from the medium, cannot be performed in elemental contamination-prone gelling medium11,14,15. Numerous nutrients are frequently present in significant amounts in the agar media, including P, Zn, Fe, and many more11,14,15. Furthermore, RSA growth is slower in agar-based media than in non-agar-based liquid medium. As a result, there is a need to establish an alternate non-agar-based approach for quantifying and qualitatively recording the phenotype of RSA. Consequently, the current method has been developed, in which plantlets are raised in a magenta box-based hydroponic system atop a polypropylene mesh supported by polycarbonate wedges1,10,11.
This study presents a detailed improvised version of the earlier method described by Jain et al.10. This strategy has been tuned for current demands in plant root biology and can also be used for plants like Alfalfa, other than model plants. The protocol is the primary way to measure the changes in RSA, and it only requires simple equipment. The present protocol illustrates how to phenotype several root features, such as primary and lateral roots in normal and modified medium (Pi deficient). Step-by-step directions and other helpful hints gleaned from the author&#39;s experiences are provided to help the researchers follow along with the methodologies offered in this method. The present study aims to provide a simple and effective method for revealing the entire root system of plants, including higher-order LRs. This method involves manually spreading the root system with a round watercolor art brush, allowing for precise control over the exposure of the roots1,10,11,12. It does not require expensive equipment or complicated software. This method has improved nutrient uptake and growth rate; plants have a nutrient-rich solution easily absorbed by their roots. The present method is suitable for researchers who wish to map the traits of a plant&#39;s root system in detail, particularly during early development (10-15 days after germination). It is suitable for small root systems, model plants like Arabidopsis and tobacco, and non-conventional plants like Alfalfa until their root system fits in the magenta boxes.
The steps for phenotypic analysis of RSA development in Arabidopsis are outlined in this protocol as follows: (1) the method of seed surface sterilization for plants (Arabidopsis), (2) the steps to set up the hydroponic system, followed by seed sowing on a medium, (3) procedure for taking out the complete seedings and spreading on the Petri plate for RSA analysis, (4) how to record the images for RSA, and (5) calculate important RSA parameters using ImageJ software.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Arabidospsis thaliana (Col 0)</td>
			<td>Lehle Seeds</td>
			<td>WT-02</td>
			<td>Columbia (Col-0**, no markers)*</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Art brushes</td>
			<td>Amazon or any other vendor</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Water color round brush size no. 14 (8 mm), 16 (9.5 mm), 18 (12 mm), and 20 (14.2 mm)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Automated Microscope with digital camera</td>
			<td>Leica Microsystems</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>LAS version 4.12.0, Leica Microsystems</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Imaging Software</td>
			<td>ImageJ</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>ImageJ V 
			&#160;1.8.0</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Magenta box GA-7</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific&#160;</td>
			<td>50-255-176</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Medicago sativa</td>
			<td>Johnny&#39;s Seeds</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Petri-plate (150 mm x 15 mm)</td>
			<td>USA Scientific</td>
			<td>8609-0215</td>
			<td>150 mm x 15 mm PS Petri Dish (https://www.usascientific.com)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Photo camera</td>
			<td>Cannon or Nikon</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Any high mega pixel (atleast 12 mega pixel per inch) camera on macro mode</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plant-Agar</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A3301</td>
			<td>Agargel&#160; Suitable for plant tissue culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Polycarbonate Sheets</td>
			<td>Amazon</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>1 mm&#160; thick</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Polypropylene Mesh</td>
			<td>Amazon</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Pore size 250 &#181;m, 500 &#181;m and 1000 &#181;m</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Scanner</td>
			<td>Epson</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Epson Perfection V700 Photo (Scan at 600 dpi)</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

a simple protocol for mapping the plant root system architecture traits

Comprehensive knowledge of plant root system architecture (RSA) development is critical for improving nutrient use efficiency and increasing crop cultivar tolerance to environmental challenges. An experimental protocol is presented for setting up the hydroponic system, plantlet growth, RSA spreading, and imaging. The approach used a magenta box-based hydroponic system containing polypropylene mesh supported by polycarbonate wedges. Experimental settings are exemplified by assessing the RSA of the plantlets under varying nutrient (phosphate [Pi]) supply. The system was established to examine the RSA of Arabidopsis, but it is readily adaptable to study other plants like Medicago sativa (Alfalfa). Arabidopsis thaliana (Col-0) plantlets are used in this investigation as an example to understand the plant RSA. Seeds are surface sterilized by treating ethanol and diluted commercial bleach, and kept at 4 &#176;C for stratification. The seeds are germinated and grown on a liquid half-MS medium on a polypropylene mesh supported by polycarbonate wedges. The plantlets are grown under standard growth conditions for the desired number days, gently picked out from the mesh, and submersed in water-containing agar plates. Each root system of the plantlets is spread gently on the water-filled plate with the help of a round art brush. These Petri plates are photographed or scanned at high resolution to document the RSA traits. The root traits, such as primary root, lateral roots, and branching zone, are measured using the freely available ImageJ software. This study provides techniques for measuring plant root characteristics in controlled environmental settings. We discuss how to (1) grow the plantlets, and collect and spread root samples, (2) obtain pictures of spread RSA samples, (3) capture the images, and (4) use image analysis software to quantify root attributes. The advantage of the present method is the versatile, easy, and efficient measurement of the RSA traits.

The different morphometric traits of root system architecture (RSA) are measured using simple laboratory tools, and the steps are depicted schematically in Figure 1. The details of the hydroponic setup demonstrate the protocol&#39;s potential in measuring the RSA (Figure 1 and Figure 2).
Given the observed differences in gelling agents, we used a hydroponic growing system to conduct all the studies<sup cl...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits at JoVE.com

A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits

We use simple laboratory tools to examine the root system architecture (RSA) of Arabidopsis and Medicago. The plantlets are grown hydroponically over mesh and spread using an art brush to reveal the RSA. Images are taken using scanning or a high-resolution camera, then analyzed with ImageJ to map traits.

Comprehensive knowledge of plant root system architecture (RSA) development is critical for improving nutrient use efficiency and increasing crop cultivar ...

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