Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Wheat Varietal Differences in Below Ground Biomass Revealed by a Semi-Quantitative Estimation of Wheat Root DNA in Soil Samples

Huw Jones
* ORCID logo ,
Steven Bentley
,
Lydia Smith
,
Alison Karley
,
Tracy Valentine
,
Charlotte White
,
Rhys Ashton
,
Lesley Boyd
Version 1 : Received: 17 June 2019 / Approved: 18 June 2019 / Online: 18 June 2019 (12:51:51 CEST)

How to cite: Jones, H.; Bentley, S.; Smith, L.; Karley, A.; Valentine, T.; White, C.; Ashton, R.; Boyd, L. Wheat Varietal Differences in Below Ground Biomass Revealed by a Semi-Quantitative Estimation of Wheat Root DNA in Soil Samples. Preprints 2019, 2019060176. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201906.0176.v1 Jones, H.; Bentley, S.; Smith, L.; Karley, A.; Valentine, T.; White, C.; Ashton, R.; Boyd, L. Wheat Varietal Differences in Below Ground Biomass Revealed by a Semi-Quantitative Estimation of Wheat Root DNA in Soil Samples. Preprints 2019, 2019060176. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201906.0176.v1

Abstract

Root research on field grown crops is hindered by the difficulty of estimating root biomass in soil. Root washing, the current standard method is laborious and expensive. Biochemical methods to quantify root biomass in soil, targeting species-specific DNA, have potential as a more efficient assay. We combined an efficient DNA extraction method, designed specifically to extract DNA from soil, with well-established quantitative PCR methods to estimate the root biomass of twenty-two wheat varieties grown in field trials over two seasons. We also developed an assay for estimating root biomass for black-grass, a common weed of wheat cultivation. Two robust qPCR assays were developed to estimate the quantity of plant root DNA in soil samples, one specific to wheat and barley, and a second specific to black-grass. The DNA qPCR method was comparable, with high correlations, with the results of root washing from soil cores taken from winter wheat field trials. The DNA qPCR assay showed both variety and depth as significant factors in the distribution of root biomass in replicated field trials. The results suggest that these DNA qPCR assays are a useful, high throughput tool for investigating the genetic basis of wheat root biomass distribution in field grown crops, and the impact of black-grass root systems on crop production.

Keywords

root biomass; wheat; field crops; black-grass; high-throughput; variety trials

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Agricultural Science and Agronomy

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF Download Supplementary

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0
Get PDF Supplementary Files Cite Share 0
Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious
×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.