GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Title of Dataset: Data from:Plasticity and co-variation of root traits govern differential phosphorus acquisition among 20 wheat genotypes 2. Author Information Corresponding Investigator Name: Dr Hongbo Li Institution: Inst. of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China Email: lihongboxy@163.com Co-investigator 1 Name: Dr Xin-Xin Wang Institution: Mountain Area Research Inst., Hebei Agricultural Univ., Baoding, PR China Co-investigator 2 Name: Jiaqi Zhang Institution: Mountain Area Research Inst., Hebei Agricultural Univ., Baoding, PR China Co-investigator 3 Name: Hong Wang Institution: Mountain Area Research Inst., Hebei Agricultural Univ., Baoding, PR China Co-investigator 4 Name: Prof Zed Rengel Institution: Soil Science & Plant Nutrition, UWA School of Agriculture and Environment, The Univ. of Western Australia, 3. Date of data collection: growth time: December 2018 to January 2019; measurement: until Sep 2019 (all date set was gained) 4. Location of data collection: at the eastern campus of Hebei Agricultural University (115°49′E, 38°85′N), Baoding, China. 5. Funding sources that supported the collection of the data: State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Hebei Agricultural Univ., Hebei, Baoding, PR China 6. Recommended citation for this dataset: Wang et al. (2021), Data from: Plasticity and co-variation of root traits govern differential phosphorus acquisition among 20 wheat genotypes DATA & FILE OVERVIEW 1. Description of dataset These data were generated to investigate 20 wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotypes grown in a culture room with low and high P supply We measured eight root traits in three categories : 1) three whole-root system traits: root biomass, root/shoot ratio and root length; 2) three root morphological traits: root diameter, root tissue density (RTD) and specific root length (SRL); 3) two root physiological traits: pH of the rhizosphere soil and phosphatase activity in the rhizosphere. we also measured three shoot traits: shoot biomass, shoot P concentration, shoot P content 2. File List: File 1 Name: wang et al., 2021 all data_updated 22apr2022 File 1 Description: 3 shoot traits and 8 root traits of 20 wheat genotypes in low or high phosphorus level (including 10 genotyes with high-P sensitivity and 10 genotyes with low-P sensitivity ) (calculated as shoot P content at low P/shoot P content at high P supply) METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION Shoot P concentration was determined by the standard vanadomolybdate method (Murphy and Riley 1962) after digestion in a H2SO4–H2O2 mixture at 360°C for 2 h. Root samples were cleaned using de-ionized water and frozen at −20°C prior to measurement of root morphological parameters. Cleaned root samples were dispersed in water in a transparent tray (30 × 20 × 3 cm) and scanned with an scanner at a resolution of 400 dpi. The root traits such as root length and root diameter were determined by analysis of images using WinRHIZO Pro software (2009b; Regent Instruments Inc, Quebec, Canada) software. Scanned root images are shown in the Supporting information. SRL (m g−1) was assessed as the ratio of root length over dry root weight. Specific root volume (cm3 g−1) was assessed as the ratio of root volume over dry root weight. After root samples were scanned, the roots were also oven-dried at 70°C for 3 days and weighed as root biomass, and then root/shoot biomass ratio was calculated. In addition, we calculated RTD as root dry weight over root volume, assuming roots were perfect cylinders (Ostonen et al. 2007). Phosphatase activity in the rhizosphere was measured according to (Alvey et al. 2001) using p-nitrophenylphosphate (p-NPP). The whole root systems with tightly adhering rhizosphere soil were transferred into 200-ml vials containing a measured amount of 0.2 mM CaCl2 solution depending on root volume (Veneklaas et al. 2003). The pH value of Na-acetate buffer (200 mM) was adjusted to the average pH values (7.4) of the rhizosphere soil. The rhizosphere soil in the CaCl2 suspension was separated by centrifugation for 10 min at 12 000× g, dried at 60°C and then weighed. The concentration of p-NPP in the supernatant was measured spectrophotometrically at 405 nm. DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: wang et al., 2021 all data_updated 22apr2022.xlsx 1. Number of variables: 12 2. Number of cases/rows: 160 3. Variable List: NO : 1-160 pot Genotypes: 1-20 genotype P Level (mg/kg): applied P level (0 and 200 mg kg-1) P-sensitivity group: 1/0 (Their P sensitivity ranged from 0.070 to 0.175, with a mean of 0.121. The classes of high/low P sensitivity (P sensitivity was calculated as shoot P content at low P/shoot P content at high P supply) genotype groups were constructed by finding a median value of P sensitivity and creating the medium-PS interval as median ± SE of the genotype effect. Genotypes with data falling above or below that medium interval were classed as high-PS or low-PS genotypes, respectively (Rengel and Graham 1995, Malik et al. 2016). ) Shoot biomass (g/pot) : the dry weight of shoot per pot Shoot P concentration (mg/g): shoot phosphorus concentration Shoot P content (mg/pot): calculated from shoot biomass * shoot P concentration Root biomass (g/pot) : the dry weight of root per pot Root length (m/pot) : the total root length per pot root/shoot ratio : calculated from root biomass/shoot biomass Root diameter (mm) : the mean diameter of root Root tissue density (mg/cm3): calculated from root biomass/root volume Specific root length (m/g): calculated from root length/root biomass Acid Pase (μmol PNP/g soil/h): Phosphatase activity in the rhizosphere pH value: pH value of the rhizosphere soil Root volume (cm/pot) (for calculating root tissue density): root colume per pot 4. Missing data codes: None 5. Abbreviations used: phosphorus -P 6. Other relevant information: no