Corn varieties differ widely in how their roots seek water

by dinnenylab, posted in Publications, Publicity
Johannes Scharwies and José Dinneny with corn grown to study root responses to moisture at the Stanford greenhouses. Image: LiPo Ching, Stanford University
Johannes Scharwies and José Dinneny with corn grown to study root responses to moisture at the Stanford greenhouses. Image: LiPo Ching, Stanford University

Johannes Scharwies and colleagues surveyed maize breeding germplasm for hydropatterning, the ability of roots to place branches toward available water, and found large differences among lines: tropical-adapted varieties retained a strong response that many modern U.S. lines have lost. Genetic and transcriptomic analysis identified the hormone ethylene, acting alongside auxin, as a regulator of moisture-responsive root branching, pointing to pathways that could be used to breed more drought-resilient corn.

Coverage: Stanford Report

Scharwies JD, Clarke T, Zheng Z, Dinneny A, Birkeland S, Veltman MA, Sturrock CJ, Torres-Martinez HH, Viana WG, Khare R, Kieber J, Pandey BKK, Bennett MJ, Schnable PS, Dinneny JR (2025) Moisture-responsive root-branching pathways identified in diverse maize breeding germplasm. Science. doi: 10.1126/science.ads5999 | free access link

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