Greater morphological and primary metabolic adaptations in roots contribute to phosphate-deficiency tolerance in the bread wheat cultivar Kenong199

Table 2 Phenotypic evaluation of global root morphology of the two wheat cultivars under Pi deficiency

Traits^a	CS		KN199
Traits^a	+Pi	−Pi	+Pi	−Pi
Total root length (cm)	361 ± 40b	411 ± 42b	362 ± 25b	522 ± 61a
Fine root length (≤ 0.05 mm in diameter)	313 ± 33b	347 ± 38b	321 ± 28b	461 ± 44a
Thick root length (> 0.05 mm in diameter)	47 ± 8a	63 ± 18a	41 ± 9a	61 ± 17a
Total root surface area (cm²)	35.95 ± 5.56b	42.57 ± 7.20ab	37.88 ± 2.55b	52.68 ± 7.75a
Total root volume (cm³)	0.285 ± 0.058b	0.300 ± 0.019b	0.316 ± 0.041ab	0.423 ± 0.076a
Average diameter (mm)	0.316 ± 0.017a	0.328 ± 0.033a	0.334 ± 0.025a	0.320 ± 0.012a
Number of root tips	1378 ± 148b	1735 ± 331a	1353 ± 139b	1662 ± 160ab

Note: ^a the value for each trait is determined per plant. Data are means ± SD (n = 3), and different letters indicate significant differences using the least significant difference multiple range test (p < 0.05)

ISSN: 1471-2229