Organic Nitrogen Effects on Root Architecture in Rice Seedlings

Abstract

The three land races viz. land races -1 (Lal Kada), land races -2 (Futiyu) and land races -3 (Kala Rata) were sown in organic media to investigate the uptake of nitrogen in the form of amino acid as substitute for inorganic nitrogenous fertilizers in their seedlings.The four concentrations (50%, 75%, 100% and 125%) of amino acid mixture (glycine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid) were applied to growing media and the roots architectural responses of 21 days of old seedlings were measured with the help of 2-D imaging software Ez-Rhizo after scanning of roots. Among four concentrations (50%, 75%, 100% and 125%) of amino acid mixture, the 100% amino acid mixture showed higher number of lateral roots, sum of lateral root length per seedling, lateral root angles, total root system size, mean lateral root length, lateral root density, nitrogen content in leaves and roots, root biomass and shoot biomass as compared to other percentage (50%, 75% and 125%) of amino acid mixtures. Moreover, land races -1 was found more responsive to amino acid mixture among the three land races.