Researchers Identify a Gene That Regulates the Angle of Root Growth in Corn
Published:03 Aug.2021 Source:Penn State
The discovery of a gene that regulates the angle of root growth in corn is a new tool to enable the breeding of deeper-rooting crops with enhanced ability to take up nitrogen, according to an international team of researchers, led by Penn State.
The gene, called ZmCIPK15 -- a moniker indicating where it is located in the genome and how it functions -- 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 technique called a genome-wide association study, which involves a painstaking statistical analysis of a genome-wide set of genetic variants in different plant lines to see what genes are associated with a trait.