Shaping 3D root system architecture

Morris, Emily C., Griffiths, Marcus, Golebiowska, Agata, Mairhofer, Stefan, Burr-Hersey, Jasmine, Goh, Tatsuaki, von Wangenheim, Daniel, Atkinson, Brian, Sturrock, Craig J., Lynch, Jonathan P., Vissenberg, Kris, Ritz, Karl, Wells, Darren M., Mooney, Sacha J. and Bennett, Malcolm J. (2017) Shaping 3D root system architecture. Current Biology, 27 (17). R919-R930. ISSN 1879-0445

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Plants are sessile organisms rooted in one place. The soil resources that plants require are often distributed in a highly heterogeneous pattern. To aid foraging, plants have evolved roots whose growth and development are highly responsive to soil signals. As a result, 3D root architecture is shaped by myriad environmental signals to ensure resource capture is optimised and unfavourable environments are avoided. The first signals sensed by newly germinating seeds — gravity and light — direct root growth into the soil to aid seedling establishment. Heterogeneous soil resources, such as water, nitrogen and phosphate, also act as signals that shape 3D root growth to optimise uptake. Root architecture is also modified through biotic interactions that include soil fungi and neighbouring plants. This developmental plasticity results in a ‘custom-made’ 3D root system that is best adapted to forage for resources in each soil environment that a plant colonises.

Item Type: Article
RIS ID: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/881892
Schools/Departments: University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Science > School of Biosciences
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.043
Depositing User: Eprints, Support
Date Deposited: 15 Sep 2017 12:28
Last Modified: 04 May 2020 19:05
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/46437

Actions (Archive Staff Only)

Edit View Edit View