Root Responses To Neighbors Depend On Neighbor Identity And Resource Distribution

Purpose: In a complex soil environment, competitive and environmental factors will interact with individual traits to influence a plant’s root growth patterns and ability to compete for resources. Here, we examine how root growth of a focal plant, Plantago lanceolata L., responds to resource heterogeneity and to presence of two neighbor species, Centaurea jacea L.and Poa pratensis L. Methods: A full factorial experiment tested the effects of nutrient heterogeneity, neighbors, and their interaction on root responses of Plantago. Roots in shared quadrants of a pot were harvested and quantified by qPCR for plants grown alone or with a neighbor, in patchy or even soil. The effects of experimental treatments on Plantago root mass distribution were tested with two-way ANOVA. Results: When soil resources were evenly distributed, Plantago individuals increased root allocation to soil shared with a Centaurea neighbor but not a Poa neighbor. When soil resources were patchy, Plantago responded more strongly to Poa than to Centuarea, and placed more roots in the high-resource patch. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that plants can respond differently to neighbors depending on species and that integrating multiple cues results in non-additive effects on root behavior.

Analysis of Graviresponse and Biological Effects of Vertical and Horizontal Clinorotation in Arabidopsis thaliana Root Tip

Clinorotation was the first method designed to simulate microgravity on ground and it remains the most common and accessible simulation procedure. However, different experimental settings, namely angular velocity, sample orientation, and distance to the rotation center produce different responses in seedlings. Here, we compare A. thaliana root responses to the two most commonly used velocities, as examples of slow and fast clinorotation, and to vertical and horizontal clinorotation. We investigate their impact on the three stages of gravitropism: statolith sedimentation, asymmetrical auxin distribution, and differential elongation. We also investigate the statocyte ultrastructure by electron microscopy. Horizontal slow clinorotation induces changes in the statocyte ultrastructure related to a stress response and internalization of the PIN-FORMED 2 (PIN2) auxin transporter in the lower endodermis, probably due to enhanced mechano-stimulation. Additionally, fast clinorotation, as predicted, is only suitable within a very limited radius from the clinorotation center and triggers directional root growth according to the direction of the centrifugal force. Our study provides a full morphological picture of the stages of graviresponse in the root tip, and it is a valuable contribution to the field of microgravity simulation by clarifying the limitations of 2D-clinostats and proposing a proper use.

Phosphorus in Aeolian desert dust deposits can be captured, dissolved, and absorbed by plant leaves

<p>Phosphorus (P) limitation is prevalent around the world,<sup></sup>primarily because most soil P have low bioavailability. In P poor ecosystems, deposition of P-rich desert dust is recognized as a major component of the P cycle. The acknowledged paradigm is that plants acquire P deposited in soil primarily via their roots. We tested whether, and to what extent, plants acquire P directly from dust deposited on their leaves and what are the underlining uptake mechanisms of insoluble P. P-rich dust was applied to P sufficient and P deficient chickpea, maize and wheat plants and was compared to plants which received inert silica powder. Foliar application of dust doubled the growth of P stressed chickpea and wheat, two crops originating near the Syrian Desert. P deficiency enhanced the acquisition of insoluble P through series of leaf modifications that increased foliar dust capture, acidified the leaf surface and, in chickpea, enhanced exudation of P-solubilizing organic acids. In in-situ trials, we demonstrated that the modifications of leaf pH and exudation of oxalic and malic acids substantially promoted P solubilisation from dust.  Foliar responses did not occur in maize and in P sufficient plants which displayed only a marginal response to dust. Our results demonstrate that foliar uptake of P from dust can be an alternative P acquisition pathway in P-deficient plants. Interestingly, the abovementioned foliar responses are comparable to known P uptake root responses. Given that P limitation is almost universal, foliar P uptake pathway will have significant ecological and agricultural implications.</p>