Applying mechanical testing strategies to maize brace roots
| Author(s) | Erndwein, Lindsay | |
| Date Accessioned | 2021-12-08T17:31:50Z | |
| Date Available | 2021-12-08T17:31:50Z | |
| Publication Date | 2021 | |
| SWORD Update | 2021-08-09T22:12:33Z | |
| Abstract | Corn (Zea mays L.; Maize) is the top food crop cultivated worldwide and the United States alone is responsible for about 40% of the global supply. In the wake of rising global population demands, farmers need to maximize crop yields with limited land resources. Two environmental stresses that jeopardize maize cultivation and limit yields are weather and insect herbivory. Wind applies a horizontal force to stalks that can result in plant uprooting, a phenomenon known as root lodging. To reduce the negative effects of root lodging, research is needed to investigate the plant features that may contribute to lodging-resistance. One plant feature that may promote root lodging-resistance in maize is the presence of brace roots that form at stem nodes above the soil. Brace roots are proposed to enable maize plants to resist root lodging and facilitate nutrient absorption, but these functions have not been directly tested. I hypothesize that brace roots contribute to plant anchorage, the biomechanics of brace roots enhances this contribution, and that breeding maize for insect herbivory may influence brace root mechanical performance. My research uses a combination of mechanical testing methods (field-based bending tests, 3-point bend tests) and imaging techniques (MicroCT, fluorescence microscopy) to investigate the link between brace root biomechanics and their contribution to plant anchorage. My results show that: (1) maize brace roots are important to root anchorage, the extent of which varies with genotype (2) brace root whorls closest to the soil measure a higher contribution to root anchorage and higher structural mechanical properties, (3) brace root biomechanics may be a factor in increasing their contribution to plant anchorage, and (4) breeding maize for insect resistance traits may compromise plant anchorage. The results of my research provide a foundation for targeting brace roots to promote lodging resistance in maize and other cereal crops | en_US |
| Advisor | Sparks, Erin | |
| Degree | Ph.D. | |
| Department | University of Delaware, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.58088/7d17-1x98 | |
| Unique Identifier | 1287944164 | |
| URL | https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/29521 | |
| Language | en | |
| Publisher | University of Delaware | en_US |
| URI | https://login.udel.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/applying-mechanical-testing-strategies-maize/docview/2568273623/se-2?accountid=10457 | |
| Keywords | Anchorage | |
| Keywords | Bending | |
| Keywords | Lodging | |
| Keywords | Phenotyping | |
| Keywords | Root | |
| Keywords | Stalk | |
| Title | Applying mechanical testing strategies to maize brace roots | en_US |
| Type | Thesis | en_US |