Investigating molecular mechanisms regulating lateral root development in Arabidopsis.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Sch of Biosciences
Abstract
Food security is a major challenge facing the World Agriculture. The challenge of increasing crop production both with lower inputs of water and fertilizer as well as lower outputs in terms of greenhouse gas emissions is significant. Abiotic stress, notably extreme drought, salinity, temperature and radiation are major limiting factors affecting the stable productivity of major crop species in the world.
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB/M008770/1 | 01/10/2015 | 31/10/2024 | |||
| 1795880 | Studentship | BB/M008770/1 | 01/10/2016 | 27/01/2021 |
| Description | We have discovered how roots sense water and branch towards this. Root always grow along and towards the wet surface to take up the moisture, but recently it has also been observed that plant roots put out their lateral roots towards water, making sure that they get all of this valuable resource. We have shown in a paper published in Science, that this is orchestrated by the transcription factor ARF7. When one side of the root is on a water plane and the other is in air, the air side will have ARF7 present in an inactive form due to the binding of a SUMO protein, which can modify binding function of ARF7 to other proteins. A process in which activity is controlled by a binding of such a small peptide is called post-translational modification and is quite a new and interesting field of study. On the wet side, ARF7 is free to bind other targets and regulate a whole array of processes that eventually lead to the formation of a lateral root and thus an increase in uptake area for the plant. In our new paper we also how root branching is influenced by the soil environment. We report that the radial positioning of emerging lateral roots is influenced by their hydrological environment during early stages in lateral root development. New lateral root primordia have both a high degree of flexibility in terms of initiation and development angle towards the available water. Our observations reveal how the external hydrological environment regulates lateral root growth towards water. |
| Exploitation Route | This discovery can be used to look more in depth into what signal is perceived in the case of lateral root hydropatterning. The basic fundamental quesiton of how do plant roots sense water is still unanswered. Having a better understanding of the genetic network behind lateral root hydropatterning can help plant breeders in breeding varieties that are more drought resistant or stress resilient by targeting certain genes or orthologues of these genes in other species. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment |
| URL | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-019-0580-z |