The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of elevated carbon dioxide and sucrose concentrations on Arabidopsis thaliana L. Heynh root growth, morphology, and architecture. Two levels of CO 2 , 360 (ambient) and 900 (elevated) μmol·mol –1 , and various sucrose concentrations were used. A. thaliana plants grown on a phytagar medium in small chambers with elevated CO 2 had longer roots, more lateral root growth and a more dichotomous branching pattern than plants grown in ambient CO 2 . Roots in elevated CO 2 had wider root diameters, and showed considerably more secondary growth such as larger diameter vascular cylinders and better-developed periderm. Addition of sucrose to the media closely resembled the effects of elevated CO 2 . Further, the increase in sucrose concentration had a more pronounced effect on root morphology under ambient, than elevated CO 2 . Thus, both elevated CO 2 and increased sucrose concentrations promote root growth by increasing their number, length, and diameter, and by changing the branching pattern from herringbone to dichotomous.
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Lee-Ho et al. (2007) studied this question.