Los Baños, Philippines
6 November 2024
The importance of roots in plant growth is often overlooked or misunderstood. However, rice roots have a distinct anatomy and architecture, making them fascinating to study. Dr. Amelia Henry, Senior Scientist II at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and her team are helping shed light on the understudied science of roots, particularly in rice.
Her work has been recognized for this year’s Dundee Root Medal, given by the International Society of Root Research (ISRR) for her “outstanding contribution to the field of root research."
Dr. Henry also delivered the Dundee Medal Lecture “Integrated root phenotypes for dry direct-seeded rice.” In her lecture, she emphasized the range of root trait combinations characterized under direct seeding in the IRRI elite breeding pool and the large variation in root and shoot growth observed across partner sites.
A long legacy of root research at IRRI
Although IRRI is well known for its key role in the Green Revolution, its Genebank, or the novel crop management techniques it has developed, there is also a long legacy of root research at IRRI. For decades, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has studied how rice roots can help crops survive and thrive in dry conditions. In the 1960s, scientists focused on how different root structures might help rice plants access more water from the soil during drought. By the mid-1970s, IRRI researchers applied different methods to measure root growth and how they could grow deep to reach underground water sources. They even created tools to "pull" roots, measuring their strength to understand how well they could withstand drought.
In the 1980s, scientists at IRRI grew plants with their roots exposed to air (aeroponic techniques) to closely examine root shapes and structures, while field studies helped show how roots grow in real-world conditions.
A significant breakthrough in the 1990s involved discovering genetic markers related to root traits, helping scientists better predict which rice plants might have drought-resistant roots. The research also expanded to test rice in rainfed lowland and upland areas, reflecting that drought can hit different rice-growing environments. By the 2000s, a series of molecular and genetic studies related to rice roots was conducted on nitrogen fixation, phosphorus uptake, drought, and direct seeding - all involving transgenic work, which capitalized on IRRI’s strong Genetic Transformation Lab. Today, IRRI characterizes the range of rice root traits that confer improved performance in the most newly developed breeding lines.
Throughout IRRI’s history, one of the main strengths of its root research program has been the highly skilled and dedicated staff who tirelessly collect hundreds of root samples and characterize them using a range of techniques. The dedication of the entire IRRI team to the field of root research is appreciated with the awarding of the Dundee Root Medal.
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