Molecular Soil Biology 2025, Vol.16, No.6, 297-305 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/msb 300 4.2 Integration of root architecture into maize improvement programs In the root anatomy-GWAS study conducted on 316 materials, 16 macroscopic root morphological traits, 7 weight traits and 108 microphenotypes of sections were regulated by more than 3 000 genes. Among them, the haplotype frequencies of genes related to root diameter, root length and root area showed significant differences between tropical/subtropical and temperate materials (Guo et al., 2025). Ee-type hybrids are superior to SNE and NN types in terms of root opening Angle, root depth and ventilation tissue, and this dominant root phenotype can be traced back to specific n-efficient parents in the parents. Under low nitrogen conditions, the ventilation tissue area of the EE-type parents can reach 0.92 mm², while that of the low-efficiency parents is only 0.23 mm². Root maximum depth, aerated tissue area and xylem duct area affect yield through different path coefficients (0.19~0.27) (Chen et al., 2025) (Figure 1). The root systems of single-cross hybrids are generally smaller than those of double-cross hybrids. The root length is significantly reduced within the root diameter range of 2465-181 µm. However, there is no significant difference in the field soil water consumption rate (2.6-2.9 mm/d) between the two types of materials. The yield and constituent traits of the single crossbred under various densities and water treatments were significantly higher (P<0.001) (Messina et al., 2021). Figure 1 Phenotypic and transcriptomic analysis of parental lines with contrasting N efficiency (Adopted from Chen et al., 2025)
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