A return to the wild

Challenges to food security under conditions of global change are forcing us to increase global crop production. Focussing on belowground plant traits, especially root exudation, has great promise to meet this challenge. Root exudation is the release of a vast array of compounds into the soil. These...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Preece, Catherine|||0000-0001-6584-3541, Peñuelas, Josep|||0000-0002-7215-0150
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Recursos:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:218219
Acesso em linha:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/218219
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2019.09.010
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Wild ancestors
Rhizodeposition
Agriculture
Pesticide
Fertiliser
Traits
Descrição
Resumo:Challenges to food security under conditions of global change are forcing us to increase global crop production. Focussing on belowground plant traits, especially root exudation, has great promise to meet this challenge. Root exudation is the release of a vast array of compounds into the soil. These exudates are involved in many biotic and abiotic interactions. Wild relatives of crops provide a large potential source of information and genetic material and have desirable traits that could be incorporated into modern breeding programs. However, root exudates are currently underexploited. Here, we highlight how the traits of root exudates of crop wild relatives could be used to improve agricultural output and reduce environmental impacts, particularly by decreasing our dependence on pesticides and fertilisers.