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Research Project:
FACTORS INFLUENCING ROOT DEVELOPMENT, PHYSIOLOGY, AND PRODUCTIVITY OF HORTICULTURAL CROPS
Location:
Horticultural Crops Research
Project Number: 5358-12210-002-00
Project Type:
Appropriated
Start Date: Feb 15, 2003
End Date: Aug 31, 2006
Objective:
The long-term objective of this project is to develop an improved understanding of fundamental aspects of root physiology in order to increase productivity and quality of nursery and small fruit crops. The three primary objectives are as follows. (1) Define abiotic and biotic parameters that regulate nutrient and water uptake and use in nursery and small fruit production systems. (2) Characterize the complex effects of mycorrhizal fungi on the physiology of small fruit and nursery crops. (3) Clarify the relationships between nutrients, carbohydrates, mycorrhizal fungi, and hormones that regulate adventitious root formation and root growth in nursery and small fruit crops.
Approach:
Patterns of nutrient uptake and partitioning will be characterized in grapevines and specific perennial nursery crops (blueberry, rhododendron, apple). The influence of climate, management factors, plant genotype, and nutrient sources on root growth and uptake will be evaluated in pot and field trials. Results will be used to develop standards for optimal tissue concentrations of mineral nutrients and to develop novel methods of synchronizing fertilizer use with plant physiological requirements. The mycorrhizal communities and species of mycorrhizal fungi in symbiosis with small fruit crops (grape, raspberry, blueberry, cranberry) in the PNW will be characterized using classical and molecular tools. Dominant mycorrhizal fungi associated with small fruit crops in the PNW will be isolated and characterized for physiological function in target crops and soils. The influence of naturally occurring and anthropogenic factors on mycorrhizal fungi community structure, root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi, and growth and nutrition of nursery and small fruit crops will be determined by field surveys and controlled environment experimentation. Results will be used to determine how the symbiotic interaction between the plant and mycorrhizal fungus influences the quality and efficiency of nursery and small fruit production. The interactions between plant nutrition, carbon metabolism and endogenous levels of hormones during the process of adventitious root formation will be characterized. Differential display will be used to evaluate changes in gene expression that occur during adventitious root formation, and the influence of mycorrhizal fungi and exogenous hormone application on gene expression during adventitious root formation. Results will be used to develop methods of optimizing adventitious root formation of perennial nursery crops through modification of nutrition and hormone levels within the plant.
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