Influence of Different Nutrient Concentrations and Population Densities on the Root System of Arabidopsis thaliana

This study examined the modifications made to the root system architecture of Arabidopsis thaliana when subjected to an increase in population (biotic) and a decrease in nutrient concentration (abiotic). Population density was found to have significant effect on number of root hairs (p<0.05) while nutrient concentration was found to have significant effect on length of primary root and number of lateral roots (p<0.05). Furthermore the study showed that Arabidopsis thaliana modifies its root system architecture in response to different growing conditions separately but it did not show significant interaction for ‘population density x nutrient concentration’ in all response variables (p>0.05). This work could serve as a guideline when considering sowing density and fertilizer application to other crop species.