Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 12 No. 3 (2025)

Unravelling genetic diversity in root system architecture of tomato at vegetative, flowering and harvesting stages

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.9529
Submitted
20 May 2025
Published
12-08-2025 — Updated on 19-08-2025
Versions

Abstract

Research on root system architecture (RSA) of tomato plant is meagre and yet not fully exploited for crop improvement programme. In the present investigation forty-four tomato genotypes were initially assessed under field condition to reveal variability in their root traits at harvesting stage. These genotypes showed variation in their root length, number of roots, root volume, fresh and dry root weight and were classified as high, moderate and low root performance group in field evaluation. Fifteen of the forty four genotypes were assessed in pot culture to study divergence in root system architectural (RSA) traits at vegetative, flowering and harvesting stages. The genotypes exhibited significant variation for all RSA traits at different growth stages. Average genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and genetic advance as percent of mean of RSA traits were the highest at vegetative stage (46.44 & 89.55) followed by harvesting (34.76 & 67.89) and flowering stage (25.72 & 51.06). D2 analysis of RSA traits at vegetative, flowering and harvesting stages grouped the genotypes into 4, 4 and 5 numbers of clusters. PC1 & PC2 together explained 91.65 %, 94.92 % & 79.57 % of total variability at vegetative, flowering and harvesting stages. Total root length had the maximum contribution to the diversity of genotypes both in D2 and PCA analysis for all growth stages. This study reveals that root system architecture of tomato varies at different developmental stages.

References

  1. 1. McGrail RK, David A, Sanford V, McNear DH. Trait-based root phenotyping as a necessary tool for crop selection and improvement. Agronomy. 2020;10:1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10091328
  2. 2. Ye H, Roorkiwa M, Valliyodan B, Zhou L, Chen P, Varshney RK, et al. Genetic diversity of root sy.stem architecture in response to drought stress in grain legumes. J Exp Bot. 2018;69(13):3267-77. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ery082
  3. 3. Lynch JP, Chimungu JG, Brown KM. Root anatomical phenes associated with water acquisition from drying soil: Targets for crop improvement. J Exp Bot. 2014;65:6155-66. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eru162
  4. 4. Henry A, Gowda VRP, Torres RO, McNally KL, Serraj R. Variation in root system architecture and drought response in rice (Oryza sativa): phenotyping of the Oryza SNP panel in rainfed lowland fields. Field Crops Res. 2011;120:205-14.
  5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2010.10.003
  6. 5. Lynch JP. Steep, cheap and deep: An ideotype to optimize water and N acquisition by maize root systems. Ann Bot. 2013;112:347-57. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcs293
  7. 6. Magalhães PC, de Souza TC, Cantão FRO. Early evaluation of root morphology of maize genotypes under phosphorus deficiency. Plant Soil Environ. 2011;57:135-8. https://doi.org/10.17221/360/2010-PSE
  8. 7. Satpathy P, Das S. Genetic variation in auxin induced root traits of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) genotypes. Int J Ecol Environ Sci. 2021;3:122-6.
  9. 8. Ron M, Dorrity MW, Lucas M, Toal T, Hernandez RI, Little SA, et al. Identification of novel loci regulating interspecific variation in root morphology and cellular development in tomato. Plant Physiol. 2013;162:755-68.
  10. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.113.217802
  11. 9. Alaguero-Cordovilla A, Gran-Gomez FJ, Tormos-Moltó S, Pérez-Pérez JM. Morphological characterization of root system architecture in diverse tomato genotypes during early growth. Int J Mol Sci. 2018;19(12):345-56.
  12. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19123888
  13. 10. Dennis N, Katuuamu W, Wechter P, Marcellus L, Washington HM, Cutulle M, et al. Phenotypic diversity for root traits and identification of superior germplasm for root breeding in watermelon. HortScience. 2020;55(8):1272-9.
  14. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI15093-20
  15. 11. Atta BM, Mahmood T, Trethowan RM. Relationship between root morphology and grain yield of wheat in north-western NSW, Australia. Aust J Crop Sci. 2013;7(13):2108-15.
  16. 12. Chen Y, Shan F, Nelson M, Siddique K, Rengel Z. Root trait diversity, molecular marker diversity, and trait-marker associations in a core collection of Lupinus angustifolius. J Exp Bot. 2016;67(12):3683-97. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erw127

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.