MRI Imaging of Plant Shows Roots and Pots Affect Size of Potted Plants

The root is the organ of the plant that absorbs water and minerals from the soil. Tiny hairs stick out from the root that helps in the absorption.

Aside from absorption, the root also has other functions for the plant. The main functions of the roots are:

1. Absorption of water and nutrients
2. Supporting and anchoring the plant in place
3. Storage of food and nutrients

There are also other functions of the root such as to prevent soil erosion and for vegetative reproduction. These minor functions depends on the type of plant.

Some roots are harvested for food. They are called root crops. Some root crops are cassava, sweet potato, beet, carrot, rutabaga, turnip, parsnip, radish, yam and horseradish. Spices are also obtained from roots which include sassafras, angelica, sarsaparilla and licorice.

This image on the left shows the roots of a barley plant in a cylindrical pot imaged by MRI 44 days after sowing. Blue roots are in the outer 50 percent of the pot volume, yellow roots are in the inner 50 percent of the pot volume, the stem of the barley plant is in red. (Credit: Jonas Bühler

Want bigger plants? Get to the root of the matter

Plant scientists have imaged and analyzed, for the first time, how a potted plant's roots are arranged in the soil as the plant develops. In this study, to be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on 30th June, the team has also found that doubling plant pot size makes plants grow over 40% larger.

From their 3-D MRI root scans, the researchers observed that potted plants quickly extend their roots to the pot's walls. It is likely that the plants use their roots to 'sense' the size of the pot, although the details of how the roots relay the message about the pot's size remain the plants' secret.

Discovery Leads To Growing Better Tomatoes

Tomatoes are from the tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum). Although they are fruits, they are better known as a vegetable. The tomato is one of the most common garden fruits in the United States because of the volume of fruit the plant provides.

Tomatoes are a good source of antioxidants. These are substances that protects the body's cells against the effects of free radicals that are responsible for aging and tissue damage.

Tomatoes are also a good source of vitamins and minerals such as vitamin c, beta-carotene, manganese (a mineral), and vitamin E. They are also abundant in phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are  plant material that have been shown to be necessary for sustaining human life.

Some phytonutrients that tomatoes contain are:

• Flavonones
• naringenin
• chalconaringenin
• Flavonols
• rutin
• kaempferol
• quercetin
• Hydroxycinnamic acids
• caffeic acid
• ferulic acid
• coumaric acid
• Carotenoids
• lycopene
• lutein
• zeaxanthin
• beta-carotene
• Glycosides
• esculeoside A
• Fatty acid derivatives
• 9-oxo-octadecadienoic acid

Discovery may lead to new tomato varieties with vintage flavor and quality

A new discovery could make more tomatoes taste like heirlooms, reports an international research team headed by a University of California, Davis, plant scientist.

The finding, which will be reported in the June 29 issue of the journal Science, has significant implications for the U.S. tomato industry, which annually harvests more than 15 million tons of the fruit for processing and fresh-market sales.

"This information about the gene responsible for the trait in wild and traditional varieties provides a strategy to recapture quality characteristics that had been unknowingly bred out of modern cultivated tomatoes," said Ann Powell, a biochemist in UC Davis' Department of Plant Sciences and one of the lead authors of the study.