Penn State Researchers Identify Gene that Regulates Angle of Root Growth in Corn

An international team of researchers led by The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) have found a gene that regulates the angle of root growth in corn, a discovery that will enable the breeding of deeper-rooting crops with enhanced ability to take up nitrogen.

The gene, called ZmCIPK15, was found to be missing in a naturally occurring mutant corn line that grows roots at steeper angles that make them go deeper into the soil. They identified the gene using a genome-wide association study, which involves statistical analysis of a genome-wide set of genetic variants in different plant lines to see what genes are associated with a trait.

The Penn State team screened nearly 500 lines of corn over four years in South Africa. Roots of selected plants were excavated and measured, validating the functional importance of the ZmCIPK15 gene. The researcher found that it caused an approximate 10-degree change in root angle. The steeper root growth angle markedly improved nitrogen capture. Infield studies under suboptimal nitrogen availability, the cipk15 mutant with steeper growth angles had 18% greater shoot biomass and 29% greater shoot nitrogen accumulation compared to the wild type, after 70 days of growth.

For more details, read the news release from Penn State.