Completed projects and reports

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://elibrary2.sugarresearch.com.au/handle/11079/13840

Sugar Research Australia, Sugar Research Development Corporation and BSES reports from completed research projects and papers.

Browse

Filters

Advanced Search

Filter by

Settings

Subject: search.filters.subject.Root systems

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Delivering a novel DNA-based diagnostic for root health to the sugar industry: final report 2015/042
    (Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2017) Pierre, J
    Plant root systems play many key roles including nutrients and water uptake, interface with soil microorganisms and resistance to lodging. Unfortunately, as for any other crop, large and systematic studies of sugarcane root systems have always been hampered by the opaque and solid nature of the soil. In recent years, methods for efficient extraction of DNA from soil and for species-specific DNA amplification have been developed. Such tools could be adapted for sugarcane and have the potential to greatly improve root phenotyping and health diagnostic capability in sugarcane. In this report, we present a fast and efficient method for the quantification of live sugarcane root mass in soil samples. First we demonstrated that this test is sensitive and specific to sugarcane. Then we established a universal calibration for the test to convert root DNA quantity to live root mass. Finally we validated our test on field samples and used it to answer the question of the fate of the root system after harvest. There we demonstrated that, two weeks after harvest, the sugarcane roots are still alive. It raises the question of the role that the former root system plays in the performance of the following crop and demonstrates how this test can be used to answer research question or to monitor crop root health.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The role of root growth and activity in determining sugarcane productivity : SRDC final report CLW002 (previously CSS02 & CSS2S)
    (1999) Magarey, R; Nable, R; Reghenzani, J; Smith, J; Berthelsen, S; Grace, D; Robertson, M
    Research conducted in this project aimed to better understand the relationship between root and shoot growth, in areas such as how the size of the root system affects shoot growth, do particular root parameters have a controlling influence on shoot growth, how do soil characteristics affect root penetration rates, and how the root system develops through the life of a sugarcane crop. This was achieved through the application of a wide range of experimental techniques in both the glasshouse and field situation. The study of root systems in sugarcane is difficult - due to the size of the crop and the length of the cropping period. As a result there have been few previous studies on sugarcane root systems in Australia, and indeed around the world. A number of techniques were either developed, or adapted, in this project research. A soilless aeroponic culture technique was installed and refined at Tully Sugar Experiment Station. This allowed sugarcane roots to be examined on a daily basis and root measurements made, or root pruning to occur. This overcame the difficulty of dealing with the bulky, opaque soil medium. A tall pot system was adapted for sugarcane where sugarcane could be grown for an extended period in controlled conditions. This enabled plant water relations to be studied in association with modification to root growing conditions. Root image analysis techniques were further refined for sugarcane, allowing measurement of both whole glasshouse-grown root systems, or the quantification of root lengths in material from soil cores obtained in the field. A technique for growing sugarcane with a split root system was also adapted enabling the direct and indirect effects of water stress and root pruning in a soil culture to be examined, and the likely presence of root signals as a mechanism for control of shoot growth. Studies using these techniques facilitated an examination of the relationship between roots and shoots under various experimental conditions - ranging from controlled conditions with no soil in the glasshouse, through other soil-based glasshouse trials, to the field situation. This gave depth to project results and a broader understanding of root-shoot relationships using a range of experimental observations.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Sugar yield decline joint venture, phase 1 : SRDC technical report
    (2000) Garside, AL
    This report is a technical summary of the research carried out in Phase 1 of the Sugar Yield Decline Joint Venture (SYDJV) which ran from July 1993 to June 1999. Initially, the resources/funds for Phase 1 were provided by SRDC, BSES and CSIRO Division of Soils (now Land and Water) as core contributions to the Joint Venture. Much of the research carried out in Phase 1 was funded by these core contributions.In 1995 the Queensland Government Departments of Primary Industries and Natural Resources joined the SYDJV with funding provided by the Sugar Industry Reference Panel (SIRP). Research carried out with this funding included the southern rotation experiment and southern component of the strategic tillage work at Bundaberg and all of the nematode studies. Other research, not part of SYDJV, was also funded by SIRP.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Final report on SRDC project CLW002 (previously CSS02 & CSS2S): The role of root growth and activity in determining sugarcane productivity
    (1999) Magarey, RC; Nable, R; Reghenzani, J; Smith, J; Berthelsen, S; Grace, D; Robertson, M
    When the current project was initiated, poor root growth and activity were widely believed to be a major constraint to sugarcane productivity. However, there was no technology available to assess whether or not root growth and activity were constraining cane productivity. The project was established to examine the relationship between root growth and activity and sugarcane productivity. The strategic information to be generated was expected to provide the basis for estimating the potential value of overcoming poor root growth and/or activity by managing various soil constratints such as soil pathogens, poor soil structure, or low soil fertility. Initially, the objectives of CLW002 were to: quantify the relationship between root system characteristics and crop productivity; assess the methods for measuring root activity as indicators of root system constraints on crop productivity - with particular emphasis on methods that would allow remote assessment of root activity.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Development of techniques to study root systems of sugarcane : SRDC final report BS56S
    (1993) Reghenzani, JR
    The aim of this project, to develop quantitative, cost-effective techniques for assessing the size and extensiveness of root systems in sugarcane, has been achieved. The equipment purchased and subsequently modified, and the techniques developed, have vastly improved the capacity to study root systems of sugarcane. Modifications were made to substantially improve the operation of the hydropneumatic elutriation system imported from USA. Optimal settings of the image analysis system imported from the UK were determined for root length measurement (monochrome) and root colour (colour image processing). Macro files were written to speed the operation of the latter.