Alexander Bucksch
University of Arizona, AZ·Plant Science & Agriculture·Early-career
Why do plants of the same genetic makeup grow roots in so many different shapes, and does that variety matter for crop yield? Roots are hard to study because they are hidden underground.
- Fields
Plant Science & Agriculture
Computer Science
Mathematics & Statistics
- Topics
root system architecture
root phenotyping
phenotypic spectrum
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Test whether one bean genotype forms several distinct root architecture types, each with its own plasticity curve across environments, by imaging roots grown under experimental conditions.
- Develop whole-root descriptors that capture the 3D spatial layout of an entire root system, combining differential geometry, the math of curves and surfaces, with imaging and simulation techniques.
- Build a new statistical analysis that groups roots with similar descriptors into architecture types and compares how these types behave in greenhouse and field experiments.
- Combine root descriptors with genomic data to identify genetic elements underlying root shape in bean, and extend the approach to maize.
More about the research
As a result, how the diversity of root architecture, the 3D branching layout of a root system, affects harvests and plant biomass is still not well understood. Better ways to measure root shape could point plant breeders toward new traits to select.
Why it matters
Root shape helps determine how well crops grow, but it is rarely used in breeding because roots are hard to measure. By linking whole-root shape to genes and environments, this work could give breeders of bean and maize new targets for selecting better root systems. The publicly released tools could also help other plant scientists study root variation and speed the movement of results into breeding programs.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Daniel Robertson
University of Idaho, ID·Plant Science & Agriculture
Automate high-throughput phenotyping of cereal stalks, meaning fast trait measurements across many plants, to overcome the shortage of measured plants compared with millions of genetic markers.
Melissa Lehti-Shiu
Michigan State University, MI·Plant Science & Agriculture
Measure genetic interactions between 150–200 pairs of Arabidopsis protein kinase genes by phenotyping single and double mutants under 3–5 temperature regimes, using AI-based trait measurement.
Antje Heese
University of Missouri-Columbia, MO·Plant Science & Agriculture
Test whether ZmFLS2, the maize version of the surface immune receptor that detects bacterial flagellin, is required for flg22 responses, using reverse genetics in maize and expressing ZmFLS2 in an Arabidopsis atfls2 mutant lacking its own receptor.
The school
University of Arizona: 36 labs on PI Pages, $1.0B a year on research, 487 research doctorates a year.
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