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Annals of Botany 90: 43-51, 2002
© 2002 Annals of Botany Company

Number, Position, Diameter and Initial Direction of Growth of Primary Roots in Musa

FRANCOIS LECOMPTE*,1, AURELIEN VAUCELLE2, LOIC PAGES1 and HARRY OZIER-LAFONTAINE3

1 INRA, Unité de recherche sur les Plantes et Systèmes de culture Horticoles, Domaine Saint Paul, Site Agroparc, 84914 Avignon Cedex 9, France, 2 Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon, Département AGER, 16 rue Claude Bernard, 75005 Paris and 3 INRA Centre Antilles-Guyane, Unité Agropédoclimatique de la Zone Caraïbe, Domaine Duclos, 97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, French West Indies

* For correspondence. Fax +33 (0)4 32 72 24 32, e-mail lecompte{at}avignon.inra.fr

Received: 24 September 2001; Returned for revision: 9 January 2002; Accepted: 17 March 2002

To understand soil colonization by a root system, information is needed on the architecture of the root system. In monocotyledons, soil exploration is mainly due to the growth of adventitious primary roots. Primary root emergence in banana was quantified in relation to shoot and corm development. Root emergence kinetics were closely related to the development of aerial organs. Root position at emergence on the corm followed an asymptotic function of corm dry weight, so that the age of each root at a given time could be deduced from its position. Root diameter at emergence was related to the position of the roots on the corm, with younger roots being thicker than older ones. However, root diameters were not constant along a given root, but instead decreased with the distance to the base; roots appear to be conical in their basal and apical parts. Root growth directions at emergence were variable, but a high proportion of the primary roots emerged with a low angle to the horizontal. Further research is needed to evaluate whether these initial trajectories are conserved during root development. Results presented in this study are in good agreement with those reported for other monocotyledons such as maize and rice. They give quantitative information that will facilitate the development of models of root system architecture in banana.

Key words: Adventitious roots, banana, Musa acuminata ‘Grande Naine’, root diameter, root emergence, root direction of growth.


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