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Partial root drying (PRD) has been shown to stimulate stomatal-closure response and improve water-use efficiency and thus biomass production and grain yield under water deficiency. While most studies focus on above-ground responses to PRD, we examined how root responses contributed to effects of partial root drying. In particular, in two experiments with oilseed rape ( Brassica napus L.) we investigated whether roots were able to forage for patchily distributed water, and how this affected plant growth compared with uniform watering and alternate watering (in which different parts of the roots receive water alternately). The first pot experiment was carried out in the greenhouse and the second outside under a rain-shelter in which also the watering amount was varied. The results indicate that B. napus roots were able to forage for fixed water patches by selective root placement. In the first experiment with small plants, root foraging was equally effective as enhanced water-use efficiency under alternate watering. Both treatments resulted in about 10% higher shoot biomass compared with uniform watering. Alternate watering generally outperformed uniform watering in the second experiment, but the success depended on the time of harvest and the water supply level. Measurements indicated that only the alternate watering regime effectively reduced stomatal conductance, but lead to a higher shoot biomass only under more severe (50%) rather than under milder water deficiency (70% of a well watered control). Water deficiency strongly reduced leaf initiation rates and leaf sizes in B. napus, but for a given level of water supply the supply pattern (uniform control, fixed patchy or alternate watering) hardly influenced these growth parameters. Although also in the second experiment, the plants selectively placed their roots in the wet parts of the pot, root foraging was not as effective as in the first experiment. Possible reasons for these discrepancies are discussed as well as their implications for the application of PRD effects for crop growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flooding resistance of four Ranunculus species was studied under controlled conditions and related to the tactics used by these species to survive in their natural habitat in river floodplains. R. bulbosus, a species from seldom-flooded river levées, was relatively intolerant of both waterlogging and complete submergence, due to a constitutively low level of aerenchyma in the root system. This lack of gas spaces resulted in high mortality rates during flooding treatments and an inability to use photosynthetically derived oxygen for root respiration during complete submergence. The pioneer R. sceleratus, predominantly abundant in low lying mudflats, was very resistant to waterlogging and shallow floods. Due to its constitutively high root porosity and its ability to greatly increase the elongation rate of petioles under water this species can ameliorate flooding stress. However, when leaf blades of R. sceleratus were unable to reach the water surface, this species died as quickly as the flooding-intolerant R. bulbosus. This indicates that fast elongation of petioles under water competes for energy and respirable reserves with maintenance processes. R. repens, a species from lower, frequently inundated floodplains, was very tolerant of prolonged waterlogging and submergence. Its high resistance to complete submergence under continuous darkness indicates that this species tolerates hypoxic and/or anoxic tissue conditions via metabolic adjustments. Lysigenous aerenchyma was also induced in the primary root system and in newly developed laterals, and it was able to use oxygen generated by underwater photosynthesis, for root respiration. R. acris, a species from less frequently flooded areas, was as resistant to waterlogging and submergence in the light as R. repens. However, it has a lower resistance than R. repens to complete submergence in the dark. A submergence pre-treatment increased the maximum net underwater photosynthetic rate in R. bulbosus, whereas a significant decrease of light compensation points was observed in R. repens when it had previously been submerged. This study shows that Ranunculus species exhibit various strategies to cope with different flooding conditions. R. repens responds to flooding by its tolerance mechanism and R. sceleratus by avoidance. R. acris ameliorates submergence and R. bulbosus was not able to adapt high water tables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]