Root traits for yield improvement in barley

Abstract

Take home messages
Seminal root angle is a good indicator of the mature root system architecture in barley.
There is variation for seminal root angle and seminal root number in commercial barley varieties.
Pre-breeding barley lines have more extreme measures for seminal root angle (both narrow and wide) and root number (both low and high).
There is a weak to moderate relationship between seminal root traits and yield improvement in barley, where the direction and magnitude of the correlation is highly environment dependent.