scholarly journals Growth is required for perception of water availability to pattern plant root branches

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil E. Robbins ◽  
José R. Dinneny

Water availability is a potent regulator of development in plants and acts as a positional cue to induce root branching through a process termed hydropatterning. The mechanism by which roots perceive the spatial distribution of water to position lateral branches is unknown. Here we reveal that a root's developmental competence for hydropatterning is limited to the root tip, where tissue growth occurs. Mathematical modeling suggests that water uptake during growth creates spatial biases in tissue water potential, and we show that these gradients predict the position of future lateral branches. By altering growth dynamics with exogenous chemical and environmental treatments, we demonstrate that growth is necessary to allow roots to distinguish environments with relatively high or low water availability and pattern branching accordingly. Furthermore, we show that these cues regulate a number of other physiologically important pathways. Our work supports a sense-by-growth mechanism governing lateral root hydropatterning, in which water availability cues are rendered interpretable through growth-sustained water movement.

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. E822-E831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil E. Robbins ◽  
José R. Dinneny

Water availability is a potent regulator of plant development and induces root branching through a process termed hydropatterning. Hydropatterning enables roots to position lateral branches toward regions of high water availability, such as wet soil or agar media, while preventing their emergence where water is less available, such as in air. The mechanism by which roots perceive the spatial distribution of water during hydropatterning is unknown. Using primary roots of Zea mays (maize) we reveal that developmental competence for hydropatterning is limited to the growth zone of the root tip. Past work has shown that growth generates gradients in water potential across an organ when asymmetries exist in the distribution of available water. Using mathematical modeling, we predict that substantial growth-sustained water potential gradients are also generated in the hydropatterning competent zone and that such biophysical cues inform the patterning of lateral roots. Using diverse chemical and environmental treatments we experimentally demonstrate that growth is necessary for normal hydropatterning of lateral roots. Transcriptomic characterization of the local response of tissues to a moist surface or air revealed extensive regulation of signaling and physiological pathways, some of which we show are growth-dependent. Our work supports a “sense-by-growth” mechanism governing hydropatterning, by which water availability cues are rendered interpretable through growth-sustained water movement.


Development ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 148 (4) ◽  
pp. dev196253
Author(s):  
Motohiro Fujiwara ◽  
Tatsuaki Goh ◽  
Satoru Tsugawa ◽  
Keiji Nakajima ◽  
Hidehiro Fukaki ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTOrgan morphologies are diverse but also conserved under shared developmental constraints among species. Any geometrical similarities in the shape behind diversity and the underlying developmental constraints remain unclear. Plant root tip outlines commonly exhibit a dome shape, which likely performs physiological functions, despite the diversity in size and cellular organization among distinct root classes and/or species. We carried out morphometric analysis of the primary roots of ten angiosperm species and of the lateral roots (LRs) of Arabidopsis, and found that each root outline was isometrically scaled onto a parameter-free catenary curve, a stable structure adopted for arch bridges. Using the physical model for bridges, we analogized that localized and spatially uniform occurrence of oriented cell division and expansion force the LR primordia (LRP) tip to form a catenary curve. These growth rules for the catenary curve were verified by tissue growth simulation of developing LRP development based on time-lapse imaging. Consistently, LRP outlines of mutants compromised in these rules were found to deviate from catenary curves. Our analyses demonstrate that physics-inspired growth rules constrain plant root tips to form isometrically scalable catenary curves.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-45
Author(s):  
N.F. Lunkova ◽  
N.A. Burmistrova ◽  
M.S. Krasavina

Background:A growing part of the root is one of the most active sinks for sucrose coming from source leaves through the phloem. In the root, sucrose is unloaded from conducting bundles and is distributed among the surrounding cells. To be involved in the metabolism, sucrose should disintegrate into hexoses by means of degrading enzymes.Aims:The aim of this research was to explore the possibility of the involvement of one such enzymes, invertase, in phloem unloading as well as distribution of its activity in the functionally different tissues of the plant root tips.Method:To estimate the enzyme activities in root tissues, we applied two techniques: the histochemical method using nitro blue tetrazolium. The localization of phloem unloading was studied with carboxyfluorescein, a fluorescent marker for symplastic transport.Results:Invertase activity was not detected in the apical part of the meristem. It appeared only between the basal part of this zone and the beginning of the elongation zone. There is the root phloem unloading in that area. Invertase activity increased with increasing the distance from the root tip and reached the highest values in the region of cell transition to elongation and in the elongation zone. The activities of the enzyme varied in different tissues of the same zone and sometimes in the neighboring cells of the same tissue. Biochemical determination of invertase activity was made in the maize root segments coincident to the zones of meristem, cell elongation and differentiation. The results of both methods of determination of invertase activity were in agreement.Conclusion:It was concluded that phloem unloading correlated with invertase activity, possibly because of the activation of invertase by unloaded sucrose. Invertase is one of the factors involved in the processes preparing the cells for their transition to elongation because the concentration of osmotically active hexoses increases after cleavage of sucrose, that stimulates water entry into the cells, which is necessary for elongation growth.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 1308-1319
Author(s):  
Setsuko Komatsu ◽  
Myeong W. Oh ◽  
Hee Y. Jang ◽  
Soo J. Kwon ◽  
Hye R. Kim ◽  
...  

Plant root systems form complex networks with the surrounding soil environment and are controlled by both internal and external factors. To better understand the function of root tips of soybean during germination, three proteomic techniques were used to analyze the protein profiles of root tip cells. Proteins were extracted from the root tips of 4-dayold soybean seedlings and analyzed using two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis-based proteomics, SDS-gel based proteomics, and gel-free proteomics techniques. A total of 121, 862, and 341 proteins were identified in root tips using the 2D gel-based, SDS gel-based, and gel-free proteomic techniques, respectively. The proteins identified by 2D gel-based proteomic analysis were predominantly localized in the cytoplasm, whereas nuclear-localized proteins were most commonly identified by the SDS gel-based and gel-free proteomics techniques. Of the 862 proteins identified in the SDS gelbased proteomic analysis, 190 were protein synthesis-related proteins. Furthermore, 24 proteins identified using the 2Dgel based proteomic technique shifted between acidic and basic isoelectric points, and 2 proteins, heat shock protein 70.2 and AAA-type ATPase, displayed two different molecular weights at the same isoelectric point. Taken together, these results suggest that a number of proteins related to protein synthesis and modification are activated in the root tips of soybean seedlings during germination.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelson BC Serre ◽  
Matyas Fendrych

Plants respond to the surrounding environment in countless ways. One of these responses is their ability to sense and orient their root growth toward the gravity vector. Root gravitropism is studied in many laboratories as a hallmark of auxin-related phenotypes. However, manual analysis of images and microscopy data is known to be subjected to human bias. This is particularly the case for manual measurements of root bending as the selection lines to calculate the angle are set subjectively. Therefore, it is essential to develop and use automated or semi-automated image analysis to produce reproducible and unbiased data. Moreover, the increasing usage of vertical-stage microscopy in plant root biology yields gravitropic experiments with an unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution. To this day, there is no available solution to measure root bending angle over time for vertical-stage microscopy. To address these problems, we developed ACORBA (Automatic Calculation Of Root Bending Angles), a fully automated software to measure root bending angle over time from vertical-stage microscope and flatbed scanner images. Moreover, the software can be used semi-automated for camera, mobile phone or stereomicroscope images. ACORBA represents a flexible approach based on both traditional image processing and deep machine learning segmentation to measure root angle progression over time. By its automated nature, the workflow is limiting human interactions and has high reproducibility. ACORBA will support the plant biologist community by reducing time and labor and by producing quality results from various kinds of inputs.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thea van den Berg ◽  
Kirsten H. ten Tusscher

AbstractThe root system is a major determinant of plant fitness. Its capacity to supply the plant with sufficient water and nutrients strongly depends on root system architecture, which arises from the repeated branching off of lateral roots. A critical first step in lateral root formation is priming, which prepatterns sites competent of forming a lateral root. Priming is characterized by temporal oscillations in auxin, auxin signalling and gene expression in the root meristem, which through growth become transformed into a spatially repetitive pattern of competent sites. Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of auxin synthesis, transport and perception for the amplitude of these oscillations and their chances of producing an actual competent site. Additionally, repeated lateral root cap apoptosis was demonstrated to be strongly correlated with repetitive lateral root priming. Intriguingly, no single mutation has been identified that fully abolishes lateral root formation, and thusfar the mechanism underlying oscillations has remained unknown. In this study, we investigated the impact of auxin reflux loop properties combined with root growth dynamics on priming, using a computational approach. To this end we developed a novel multi-scale root model incorporating a realistic root tip architecture and reflux loop properties as well as root growth dynamics. Excitingly, in this model, repetitive auxin elevations automatically emerge. First, we show that root tip architecture and reflux loop properties result in an auxin loading zone at the start of the elongation zone, with preferential auxin loading in narrow vasculature cells. Second, we demonstrate how meristematic root growth dynamics causes regular alternations in the sizes of cells arriving at the elongation zone, which subsequently become amplified during cell expansion. These cell size differences translate into differences in cellular auxin loading potential. Combined, these properties result in temporal and spatial fluctuations in auxin levels in vasculature and pericycle cells. Our model predicts that temporal priming frequency predominantly depends on cell cycle duration, while cell cycle duration together with meristem size control lateral root spacing.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Courcoubetis ◽  
Chi Xu ◽  
Sergey Nuzhdin ◽  
Stephan Haas

AbstractIn the physicists’ perspective, epithelial tissues constitute an exotic type of active matter with non-linear properties reminiscent of amorphous materials. In the context of a circular proliferating epithelium, modeled by the quasistatic vertex model, we identify novel discrete tissue scale rearrangements, i.e. cellular flow avalanches, which are a form of collective cell movement. During the avalanches, the cellular trajectories are radial in the periphery and form a vortex in the core. After the onset of these avalanches, the epithelial area grows discontinuously. The avalanches are found to be stochastic, and their strength is determined by the density of cells in the tissue. Overall, avalanches regularize the spatial tension distribution along tissue. Furthermore, the avalanche distribution is found to obey a power law, with an exponent consistent with sheer induced avalanches in amorphous materials. To decipher the role of avalanches in organ development, we simulate epithelial growth of theDrosophilaeye disc during the third instar using a computational model, which includes both signaling and mechanistic signalling. During the third instar, the morphogenetic furrow (MF), a ∼10 cell wide wave of apical area constriction propagates through the epithelium, making it a system with interesting mechanical properties. These simulations are used to understand the details of the growth process, the effect of the MF on the growth dynamics on the tissue scale, and to make predictions. The avalanches are found to depend on the strength of the apical constriction of cells in the MF, with stronger apical constriction leading to less frequent and more pronounced avalanches. The results herein highlight the dependence of simulated tissue growth dynamics on relaxation timescales, and serve as a guide forin vitroexperiments.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuchen Long ◽  
Ibrahim Cheddadi ◽  
Vincent Mirabet ◽  
Gabriella Mosca ◽  
Mathilde Dumond ◽  
...  

Cell-to-cell heterogeneity prevails in many biological systems, although its origin and function are often unclear. Cell hydrostatic pressure, alias turgor pressure, is essential in physiology and morphogenesis, and its spatial variations are often overlooked. Here, based on a mathematical model describing cell mechanics and water movement in a plant tissue, we predict that cell pressure anticorrelates with cell neighbour number. Using atomic force microscopy, we confirm this prediction in the Arabidopsis shoot apical meristem, a population of stem cells that generate all plant aerial organs. Pressure is predicted to correlate either positively or negatively with cellular growth rate depending on osmotic drive, cell wall extensibility, and hydraulic conductivity. The meristem exhibits one of these two regimes depending on conditions, suggesting that, in this tissue, water conductivity is non-negligible in growth control. Our results illustrate links between local topology, cell mechanical state and cell growth, with potential roles in tissue homeostasis.


Author(s):  
Timothy S. George ◽  
◽  
Lawrie K. Brown ◽  
A. Glyn Bengough ◽  
◽  
...  

Root hairs are found on most terrestrial flowering plant species. They form from epidermal cells at a predetermined distance behind the growing root tip in three main patterns. Their presence, pattern, length, density and function are genetically controlled and numerous genes are expressed solely in root hairs. Their growth and proliferation are attenuated by the environment and root hairs growing in soil are generally shorter and less dense than those in laboratory studies. Root hairs have a number of functions including anchorage, root soil contact and bracing to enable roots to penetrate hard soils. However, their primary function is acquisition of nutrients and water, in particular phosphate. They are the site of transporters, exudation of active compounds and infection point of symbiotic microbial interactions. They have a profound effect on rhizosphere characteristics and are a potentially useful target for breeding crops for future agricultural sustainability.


1968 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-436
Author(s):  
NORMA SHIFRIN ◽  
L. LEVINE

Root tip meristems were stained to demonstrate ATPase activity by two different methods, with general agreement in localization but not specificity, and with emphasis on mitotic cells. In interphase, ATPase was localized in nucleoli and nuclear membranes, with lesser activity in the nuclear substance. In prophase, chromosomes were outlined by ATPase stain which gradually declined in intensity at prometaphase, becoming least evident in metaphase. Staining activity increased again in anaphase, and remained high in telophase. In prometaphase, anaphase and late anaphase--early telophase, the ATPase was concentrated in a fibril which appeared to coil around the chromosomes. The ATPase fibril was thinnest at metaphase and shorter and thicker at telophase. In addition, granules formed in association with the coils of the fibril in late anaphase and early telophase. Later on, these granules may have fused and contributed to nucleolar reformation. The ATPase never localized in the chromosomal fibre nor in any other region of the spindle. RNA generally localized like ATPase, but ATPase loci were unchanged after ribonuclease (RNase) treatment. Because of certain similarities between ATPase and argentaffin localization, some relationship between the nucleolus and ATPase is suggested. A mechanochemical transducing role is postulated for the ATPase, because cytochemical properties were like those of ATPase in the A-band of myofibrillae, and because other changes in it could be correlated with chromosome movement.


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