Re-engineering rice root architecture to maximise water use efficiency

The roots of plants are the primary mechanism for absorbing water and nutrients from the soil. Manipulating roots to penetrate deeper with greater branching allows plants to thrive with less water and less nutrients. This project aims to discover gene networks responsible for producing deeper and more branched roots in rice plants. It will involve first identifying key genes and proteins responsible for this process, and then altering their expression in order to assess the role of these regulatory elements in root development in rice plants. These discoveries will allow us to manipulate rice root architecture to maximise water use efficiency, which is important for our future agricultural and environmental needs.