Morphological adaptation of roots is critical for plants to survive under waterlogging. In this study, we evaluated the capacity of wheat to form aerenchyma in seminal roots in combination with the growth angle of the roots. We used five Japanese cultivars from the waterlogging-prone Kanto-Kyushu region in Japan, and a non-Japanese cultivar, Bobwhite for comparison. Seedlings in pot culture were waterlogged at a 3-cm depth for 7 days. The first adverse effect of waterlogging on plant growth was a significant reduction of root dry mass. The reduction rate varied with the cultivar, and it was 19.2% in cv. Shiroganekomugi and 40.0% in cv. Norin 61. Root aerenchyma was initially observed on the 2nd day of waterlogging and developed until the 7th day, in all 6 cultivars. Quantitative analysis of the aerenchyma development revealed no significant difference in radial distribution among the cultivars, whereas a slight difference was found in the axial distribution. As a consequence, the heavier root weight of Shiroganekomugi was not related to either the radial or axial developing capacity of aerenchyma but might be due to the effect of its shallow root angle in the soil. These results suggest that the capacity to form aerenchyma in the seminal root is not sufficient for expression of waterlogging tolerance in the Japanese wheat cultivars.

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