From SciDev.Net: Root-imaging technology could improve crop resilience

By Aleida Rueda

[MEXICO CITY] Mexican researchers have welcomed a breakthrough in imaging plant roots, saying it could help breeders develop new varieties of crops that can thrive in harsh conditions.

The technique uses X-ray computed tomography to build up a three-dimensional image by scanning through 360 degrees, a technology commonly used in hospitals to diagnose soft tissue damage.

Scans of plant roots in soil show the shape and branching patterns of the roots, but do not clearly distinguish between the roots and surrounding soil and organic matter.

Now scientists at the Centre for Plant Integrative Biology (CPIB) at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, have developed imaging software — called “RooTrak” — to analyse the scans and display the roots as a distinct three-dimensional structure. Their findings are reported in the February issue of Plant Physiology.

“This is the first time this approach has been used for this purpose and the results are very promising,” Malcolm Bennett, the project’s leader, told SciDev.Net.

As well as providing clearer imaging, the method is fast and non-invasive because roots can be analysed without having to remove the surrounding soil. The technique has passed initial tests on maize, tomato and wheat grown in a range of contrasting soil textures.

The CPIB has been awarded US$4.5 million by the European Research Council to test the technology in Australia, Europe and Mexico.

The Mexican collaboration is being coordinated by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which plans to use the technology to screen wheat for a variety of traits including heat and drought tolerance, and water and nutrient use.

While the technology was welcomed by researchers contacted by SciDev.Net they all expressed concern that it might be too costly for widespread adoption in developing countries.

But the technology could benefit plant breeders, according to Matthew Reynolds, a wheat physiologist at CIMMYT in Mexico who will oversee the collaboration.

“This technique will open enormous possibilities for understanding the interaction between trees and annual crops [such as maize and beans] at the level of their root systems, particularly under conditions of drought and root competition between species,” said Antonio Turrent Fernández, of Mexico’s National Institute of Agricultural, Livestock and Forestry Research (INIFAP).

Alejandro Espinosa Calderón, also from INIFAP, said the technology “could help [researchers] select plants with favourable root architecture, shape, depth and size that could thrive in adverse conditions”.

REFERENCES: Plant Physiology 158, 569 (2012)

In 2001, CIMMYT published Application of Physiology in Wheat Breeding, which became one of the most highly downloaded publications from the CIMMYT website. It has been translated into Russian and Chinese and comprehensively explains approaches for using plant physiology in the genetic improvement of wheat. The success of that book has led CIMMYT’s Wheat Physiology Group to recently publish two further complimentary manuals:

• Physiological Breeding I: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Improve Crop Adaptation and
• Physiological Breeding II: A Field Guide to Wheat Phenotyping.

These build on the knowledge and methods presented in the first book in order to provide practical information for breeders and crop researchers seeking to apply tried and tested phenotyping methods in the context of the environmental factors to which crops must adapt. “It’s productive literature for stress breeding programs,” said Digvijay Bhargav, a researcher at the Indian Agricultural Re search Institute.

According to Matthew Reynolds, Head of Wheat Physiology at CIMMYT and editor of the manuals, “all three volumes are expected to provide a valuable stock of information for those working in the area of crop improvement and who are charged by society with the responsibility for accelerating genetic gains of crops in increasingly challenging en vironments to ensure the food security of a rapidly growing population.”

Printed copies of the manuals will be available shortly, or you can download them now from the CIMMYT repository:

Physiological Breeding I: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Improve Crop Adaptation.

Physiological Breeding II: A Field Guide to Wheat Phenotyping.

2012 is already proving to be big and eventful year for CIMMYT’s Southern Africa Regional Office, with half a dozen CIMMYT-Zimbabwe staff receiving honours for years of dedicated service to the organisation. At a luncheon event held on 02 March 2012 at the CIMMYT-Zimbabwe offices, Sebastian Mawere and John Chifamba each received awards for 25 years of service. The office also celebrated 20 years of dedicated service by Esau Tofa, 15 years by Nothando Moyo and Taksure Ndlovu, and 10 by Simbarashe Chisoro.

Gary Atlin (associate director of the Global Maize Program) and Mulugetta Mekuria presented the awards on behalf of CIMMYT and expressed their gratitude for the recipients’ long service and valued contributions. Mulugetta recalled that the Regional Office’s teamwork has been well recognised by CIMMYT management and thanked the staff for their perseverance during difficult and turbulent periods in Zimbabwe.

During the presentation ceremony colleagues spoke of how Sebastian and John had remained dedicated and committed to the organisation throughout their years of service. Colleagues joked that John and Sebastian knew what lay under the foundations of all the buildings at the station, as they have witnessed the office grow from a small office with a few activities to its current size, with research programs that cover most of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries, as well as other parts of Africa. In their award acceptance speeches the awardees thanked their colleagues for the support they have received and dedicated their awards to all CIMMYT staff.

On 02 March 2012 CGIAR Consortium was officially granted International Organization status. At an event in Paris, the agreement conferring the status was signed by Anne Dorte Riggelsen, Ambassador of Denmark to France, on behalf of her government. This officially ratified the agreement. Henri de Raincourt, French Minister of Cooperation, and Sem Laszlo Trocsanyi, Ambassador of Hungary to France, were the first to sign the agreement, in September 2011 in Montpellier, at the closure of the first ever G20 International Conference on Agriculture Research for Development.

The CGIAR Consortium, of which CIMMYT is a member center, represents the world’s largest global agriculture research partnership aimed at reducing rural poverty and hunger. “Achieving International Organization status and recognition is a major step towards enabling the reformed CGIAR to deliver research resulting in real impact; improved food security, health and nutrition alongside sustainable management of natural resources,” said Mr. Carlos Perez del Castillo, CGIAR Consortium Board Chair, who attended the event. “This status will allow the consortium to operate as an independent organization, speak with one voice at an international level, establish better partnerships, and raise awareness of its work at a time when agricultural research is key to the survival of a billion people.”

Since 2010, the CGIAR has been undergoing a major reform to ensure that its research delivers clear impacts. With the Consortium becoming an International Organization, this not only endorses the strategic reform, but by facilitating fundraising and co-ordination it will catalyze the impact-oriented research essential to the lives of millions of smallholder farmers.

For more information, see the full press release.

On 08 February 2012, CIMMYT’s Director General Thomas Lumpkin participated as a speaker in the Economist Conference “Feeding the World: The 9 Billion People Question” in Geneva, Switzerland. Attendees included a number of high level representatives and government officials, including Kanayo Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Jikun Huang, Founder and Director of the Center for Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAAS), and Bruno Le Maire, the French Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Fishing.

Alongside Nina Federoff of Pennsylvania State University and Howard Shapiro, Global Director of Plant Science and External Research at Mars, Lumpkin debated “Does Science Hold the Answers?”. He highlighted the advanced work of CIMMYT scientists on photosynthesis efficiency of wheat, zero tillage agronomic practices, precision fertilizer application and the use of sensors, and high resolution, site-specific cell phone decision support tools. Lumpkin also advocated technologies currently being made accessible and tailored for farmers.

In his speech, Lumpkin called for the international community to resist complacency and work towards yield increases of 200 to 300 percent, whilst striving for a reduction in the amount of arable land under cultivation, in order to address the world’s food security concerns. His presentation, “Higher Yields for Food Security with Less Water, Inputs, and Land: Does Science Hold the Answers?” will be featured on the Economist website, and is currently available on the CIMMYT intranet.

In addition to being well represented by our Director General, CIMMYT was mentioned several times in other panels, underscoring the value of public agricultural research in the toolbox of solutions for making our world food secure. With key policy makers and leaders from some of the premier corporations in the food and agribusiness industries in attendance, the conference provided an ideal occasion to present CIMMYT’s work and offered a platform for engaging future partners and donors.