Abstract: Drought is an important environmental factor affecting plant growth and crop yield. The global climate change has strengthened the threat of drought stress on crop growth and grain production. Root system is the primary organ for plant to absorb water. It can adjust plant growth and development, support water uptake and transportation, thus enable plant to adapt to drought stress. It really plays an important role in drought and water-limited environments. The paper summarized the research progress on adaptivity of crop root structure to drought stress from the aspects of crop root system architecture and root anatomical structure, and analyzed the methods and present status of this study. It also pointed out the future development trend to realize extensive, accurate and rapid identification of root phenotypic traits by advanced method and innovated technology, thus to provide theoretical guidance for the screening and evaluation of drought-resistant and water-saving crop varieties.

Key words: root system, drought, morphology structure, phenotype, crop

摘要： 干旱是影响植物生长和作物产量的重要环境因素，全球性的气候变化更加剧了干旱胁迫对作物生产和粮食产量的影响。根系是植株吸收水分的主要器官，它能够调节自身生长发育和对水分的吸收和运输从而对干旱胁迫产生适应性，因而根系在作物适应干旱缺水环境中发挥重要作用。从根系构型和根的解剖结构两方面总结了作物根系形态结构对干旱胁迫的适应性研究进展，并分析了目前根系结构研究方法的现状，指出通过研究方法和技术手段的进步和创新，实现根系表型特征全面、快速和精准鉴定将是未来的发展趋势，这将为抗旱节水作物品种的筛选和评价提供理论指导。

关键词: 根系, 干旱, 形态结构, 表型, 作物