Penn State, Chinese University Establish Joint Root Biology Lab

For Jonathan Lynch, it’s all about the roots. For decades, the Penn State professor of plant nutrition has been studying how the roots of plants such as common bean, corn, and soybean can be designed, selected, and developed to improve yields in the low-fertility soils of poor counties. His research into root architecture, formation, and characteristics is critical for the world, Lynch believes, especially in parts of Africa, Asia, and South America where people continually battle starvation.

“The United Nations estimates that 840 million people are undernourished, and the number of malnourished people is actually growing,” he says. “Agricultural production in developing nations is limited primarily by drought and low soil fertility. Fertilizer use in these regions is low and is not likely to increase substantially in the foreseeable future. The development of crops with better yield on poor soil, therefore, has great promise for alleviating human suffering.

“If we understood roots better, we could give people seed for better plants, and they could grow more food,” Lynch adds.

Underlining the importance of Lynch’s work, Penn State President Graham Spanier recently stopped in Guangzhou, China, to sign an agreement creating a Joint Root Biology Laboratory with South China Agricultural University. The pact formalizes a collaboration between Lynch and Professor Xiaolong Yan, who have been partnering on root-biology research for 25 years.

At South China Agricultural University, Lynch explains, Yan and his peers have concentrated on improving the roots of soybean, which is a vital crop for that coun-try. “Ten million Chinese farmers this year will plant soybean genotypes that Yan has developed,” he says. “Yan's work has had a tremendous importance in his country.