The grand challenge of the 21st century is to sustain 10 billion people in a degraded global environment. A central element of that effort will be the development of climate-resilient agroecosystems that can provide food, fiber, and fuel at a reduced environmental cost. Water limitation is the single greatest limit to plant growth and this will worsen in the future because of global climate change. Low soil fertility is a primary barrier to food security in developing nations and in rich nations intensive fertilization is a primary cause of environmental pollution. A better understanding of root function and root health, including root associations with symbionts, will open avenues to create new resilient crops and agroecosystems, and improved management of natural ecosystems, that are urgently needed.
Center for Root and Rhizosphere Biology
Supporting research and training on plant roots and their associated rhizospheres
News
Liana Burghardt named new Director of Center for Root and Rhizosphere Biology
Assistant Professor of Plant Science Liana Burghardt is serving as the new Director of the Center for Root and Rhizosphere Biology, replacing outgoing director Jonathan Lynch, distinguished professor of plant nutrition.
New plant science team gets grants from USDA-NIFA for research on soil microbes
An assistant professor in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has received $950,000 in two competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lead a team studying interactions between plants and rhizobial soil bacteria, with the long-term goal of boosting forage and crop production while reducing environmental impacts of fertilizer use.
Researchers identify a gene that regulates the angle of root growth in corn
The discovery of a gene that regulates the angle of root growth in corn is a new tool to enable the breeding of deeper-rooting crops with enhanced ability to take up nitrogen, according to an international team of researchers, led by Penn State.
News
Liana Burghardt named new Director of Center for Root and Rhizosphere Biology
Assistant Professor of Plant Science Liana Burghardt is serving as the new Director of the Center for Root and Rhizosphere Biology, replacing outgoing director Jonathan Lynch, distinguished professor of plant nutrition.
New plant science team gets grants from USDA-NIFA for research on soil microbes
An assistant professor in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences has received $950,000 in two competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lead a team studying interactions between plants and rhizobial soil bacteria, with the long-term goal of boosting forage and crop production while reducing environmental impacts of fertilizer use.
Researchers identify a gene that regulates the angle of root growth in corn
The discovery of a gene that regulates the angle of root growth in corn is a new tool to enable the breeding of deeper-rooting crops with enhanced ability to take up nitrogen, according to an international team of researchers, led by Penn State.
Newly discovered trait helps plants grow deeper roots in dry, compacted soils
A previously unknown root trait allows some cereal plants to grow deeper roots capable of punching through dry, hard, compacted soils, according to Penn State researchers, who suggest that harnessing the inherited characteristic could lead to crops better able to deal with a changing climate.