Soil compaction represents a major challenge for modern agriculture. Compaction is intuitively thought to reduce root growth by limiting the ability of roots to penetrate harder soils. We report that ...root growth in compacted soil is instead actively suppressed by the volatile hormone ethylene. We found that mutant
and rice roots that were insensitive to ethylene penetrated compacted soil more effectively than did wild-type roots. Our results indicate that soil compaction lowers gas diffusion through a reduction in air-filled pores, thereby causing ethylene to accumulate in root tissues and trigger hormone responses that restrict growth. We propose that ethylene acts as an early warning signal for roots to avoid compacted soils, which would be relevant to research into the breeding of crops resilient to soil compaction.
OpenSimRoot Postma, Johannes A.; Kuppe, Christian; Owen, Markus R. ...
The New phytologist,
August 2017, Volume:
215, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
OpenSimRoot is an open-source, functional–structural plant model and mathematical description of root growth and function. We describe OpenSimRoot and its functionality to broaden the benefits of ...root modeling to the plant science community.
OpenSimRoot is an extended version of SimRoot, established to simulate root system architecture, nutrient acquisition and plant growth. OpenSimRoot has a plugin, modular infrastructure, coupling single plant and crop stands to soil nutrient and water transport models. It estimates the value of root traits for water and nutrient acquisition in environments and plant species.
The flexible OpenSimRoot design allows upscaling from root anatomy to plant community to estimate the following: resource costs of developmental and anatomical traits; trait synergisms; and (interspecies) root competition. OpenSimRoot can model three-dimensional images from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) of roots in soil. New modules include: soil water-dependent water uptake and xylem flow; tiller formation; evapotranspiration; simultaneous simulation of mobile solutes; mesh refinement; and root growth plasticity.
OpenSimRoot integrates plant phenotypic data with environmental metadata to support experimental designs and to gain a mechanistic understanding at system scales.
Phosphate (P) is an essential macronutrient for plant growth. Roots employ adaptive mechanisms to forage for P in soil. Root hair elongation is particularly important since P is immobile. Here we ...report that auxin plays a critical role promoting root hair growth in Arabidopsis in response to low external P. Mutants disrupting auxin synthesis (taa1) and transport (aux1) attenuate the low P root hair response. Conversely, targeting AUX1 expression in lateral root cap and epidermal cells rescues this low P response in aux1. Hence auxin transport from the root apex to differentiation zone promotes auxin-dependent hair response to low P. Low external P results in induction of root hair expressed auxin-inducible transcription factors ARF19, RSL2, and RSL4. Mutants lacking these genes disrupt the low P root hair response. We conclude auxin synthesis, transport and response pathway components play critical roles regulating this low P root adaptive response.
Shaping 3D Root System Architecture Morris, Emily C.; Griffiths, Marcus; Golebiowska, Agata ...
Current biology,
09/2017, Volume:
27, Issue:
17
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
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.
Morris et al. explore the diverse architectures, adaptive responses and molecular mechanisms employed by root systems to optimise resource capture and adapt to abiotic and biotic stresses.
Greater nitrogen efficiency would substantially reduce the economic, energy and environmental costs of rice production. We hypothesized that synergistic balancing of the costs and benefits for soil ...exploration among root architectural phenes is beneficial under suboptimal nitrogen availability. An enhanced implementation of the functional–structural model OpenSimRoot for rice integrated with the ORYZA_v3 crop model was used to evaluate the utility of combinations of root architectural phenes, namely nodal root angle, the proportion of smaller diameter nodal roots, nodal root number; and L‐type and S‐type lateral branching densities, for plant growth under low nitrogen. Multiple integrated root phenotypes were identified with greater shoot biomass under low nitrogen than the reference cultivar IR64. The superiority of these phenotypes was due to synergism among root phenes rather than the expected additive effects of phene states. Representative optimal phenotypes were predicted to have up to 80% greater grain yield with low N supply in the rainfed dry direct‐seeded agroecosystem over future weather conditions, compared to IR64. These phenotypes merit consideration as root ideotypes for breeding rice cultivars with improved yield under rainfed dry direct‐seeded conditions with limited nitrogen availability. The importance of phene synergism for the performance of integrated phenotypes has implications for crop breeding.
Summary Statement
Multiscale mechanistic modelling identified several integrated root phenotypes in rice with superior yield under low N availability. Synergism among root phenes was an important component of phenotypic performance.
Crops with reduced nutrient and water requirements are urgently needed in global agriculture. Root growth angle plays an important role in nutrient and water acquisition. A maize diversity panel of ...481 genotypes was screened for variation in root angle employing a high‐throughput field phenotyping platform. Genome‐wide association mapping identified several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with root angle, including one located in the root expressed CBL‐interacting serine/threonine‐protein kinase 15 (ZmCIPK15) gene (LOC100285495). Reverse genetic studies validated the functional importance of ZmCIPK15, causing a approximately 10° change in root angle in specific nodal positions. A steeper root growth angle improved nitrogen capture in silico and in the field. OpenSimRoot simulations predicted at 40 days of growth that this change in angle would improve nitrogen uptake by 11% and plant biomass by 4% in low nitrogen conditions. In field studies under suboptimal N availability, the cipk15 mutant with steeper growth angles had 18% greater shoot biomass and 29% greater shoot nitrogen accumulation compared to the wild type after 70 days of growth. We propose that a steeper root growth angle modulated by ZmCIPK15 will facilitate efforts to develop new crop varieties with optimal root architecture for improved performance under edaphic stress.
Genome‐wide association mapping identified CBL‐interacting serine/threonine‐protein kinase 15 (ZmCIPK15) gene that controls root angle and is associated with increased deep nitrogen capture and plant performance in low nitrogen environments.
Beyond obesity, excess levels of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) significantly contribute to the risk of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS), although thresholds for increased risk vary based on ...population, regions of interest, and units of measure employed. We sought to determine whether a common threshold exists that is indicative of heightened MetS risk across all populations, accounting for sex, age, BMI, and race/ethnicity. A systematic literature review was conducted in September 2023, presenting threshold values for elevated MetS risk. Standardization equations harmonized the results from DXA, CT, and MRI systems to facilitate a comparison of threshold variations across studies. A total of 52 papers were identified. No single threshold could accurately indicate elevated risk for both males and females across varying BMI, race/ethnicity, and age groups. Thresholds fluctuated from 70 to 165.9 cm
, with reported values consistently lower in females. Generally, premenopausal females and younger adults manifested elevated risks at lower VAT compared to their older counterparts. Notably, Asian populations exhibited elevated risks at lower VAT areas (70-136 cm
) compared to Caucasian populations (85.6-165.9 cm
). All considered studies reported associations of VAT without accommodating covariates. No single VAT area threshold for elevated MetS risk was discernible post-harmonization by technology, units of measure, and region of interest. This review summarizes available evidence for MetS risk assessment in clinical practice. Further exploration of demographic-specific interactions between VAT area and other risk factors is imperative to comprehensively delineate overarching MetS risk.
Efficient soil exploration by roots represents an important target for crop improvement and food security 1, 2. Lateral root (LR) formation is a key trait for optimizing soil foraging for crucial ...resources such as water and nutrients. Here, we report an adaptive response termed xerobranching, exhibited by cereal roots, that represses branching when root tips are not in contact with wet soil. Non-invasive X-ray microCT imaging revealed that cereal roots rapidly repress LR formation as they enter an air space within a soil profile and are no longer in contact with water. Transcript profiling of cereal root tips revealed that transient water deficit triggers the abscisic acid (ABA) response pathway. In agreement with this, exogenous ABA treatment can mimic repression of LR formation under transient water deficit. Genetic analysis in Arabidopsis revealed that ABA repression of LR formation requires the PYR/PYL/RCAR-dependent signaling pathway. Our findings suggest that ABA acts as the key signal regulating xerobranching. We conclude that this new ABA-dependent adaptive mechanism allows roots to rapidly respond to changes in water availability in their local micro-environment and to use internal resources efficiently.
Display omitted
•Cereal plants repress lateral root formation in soil air spaces•ABA treatment can mimic this xerobranching response•Transient ABA application decreases auxin above the root apical meristem•ABA irreversibly prevents acquisition of lateral root founder cell identity
Orman-Ligeza et al. report that lateral root formation is repressed in soil air spaces. This novel adaptive response appears to be regulated by the abiotic stress signal ABA. They propose that this mechanism enables plants to fine-tune root branching to local variation in soil structure and water availability.
Abstract
We present evidence of variable 1.3 mm emission from the 1 to 3 Myr, spectral-type G2–G5 class III young stellar object (YSO), HD 283572. HD 283572 was observed on eight dates with the ...Submillimeter Array between 2021 December and 2023 May, with a total on-source time of 10.2 hr, probing a range of timescales down to 5.2 s. Averaging all data obtained on 2022 January 17 shows a 4.4 mJy (8.8
σ
) point source detection with a negative spectral index (
α
= −2.7 ± 1.2), with peak emission rising to 13.8 mJy in one 3 minute span, and 25 mJy in one 29.7 s integration (
L
ν
= 4.7 × 10
17
erg s
−1
Hz
−1
). Combining our data for the other seven dates shows no detection, with an rms noise of 0.24 mJy beam
−1
. The stochastic millimeter enhancements on time frames of seconds–minutes–hours with negative spectral indices are most plausibly explained by synchrotron or gyrosynchrotron radiation from stellar activity. HD 283572's 1.3 mm lightcurve has similarities with variable binaries, suggesting HD 283572's activity may have been triggered by interactions with an as-yet undetected companion. We additionally identify variability of HD 283572 at 10 cm, from VLASS data. This study highlights the challenges of interpreting faint millimeter emission from evolved YSOs that may host tenuous disks, and suggests that a more detailed temporal analysis of spatially unresolved data is generally warranted. The variability of class III stars may open up new ground for understanding the physics of flares in the context of terrestrial planet formation.
Objective
To compare colonic microbial composition in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients and healthy controls and to determine whether certain microbial genera are associated with gastrointestinal ...(GI) tract symptoms in patients with SSc.
Methods
Healthy controls were age‐ and sex‐matched (1:1) with adult SSc patients. Cecum and sigmoid mucosal lavage samples were obtained during colonoscopy. The microbiota in these samples were determined by Illumina HiSeq 2000 16S sequencing, and operational taxonomic units were selected. Linear discriminant analysis effect size was used to identify the genera that showed differential expression in SSc patients versus controls. Differential expression analysis for sequence count data was used to identify specific genera associated with GI tract symptoms.
Results
Among 17 patients with SSc (88% female; median age 52.1 years), the mean ± SD total GI Tract 2.0 score was 0.7 ± 0.6. Principal coordinate analysis illustrated significant differences in microbial communities in the cecum and sigmoid regions in SSc patients versus healthy controls (both P = 0.001). Similar to the findings in inflammatory disease states, SSc patients had decreased levels of commensal bacteria, such as Faecalibacterium and Clostridium, and increased levels of pathobiont bacteria, such as Fusobacterium and γ‐Proteobacteria, compared with healthy controls. Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, which are typically reduced under conditions of inflammation, were also increased in abundance in patients with SSc. In SSc patients with moderate/severe GI tract symptoms, the abundance of Bacteroides fragilis was decreased, and that of Fusobacterium was increased, compared with patients who had no or mild symptoms.
Conclusion
This study demonstrates a distinct colonic microbial signature in SSc patients compared with healthy controls. This unique ecologic change may perpetuate immunologic aberrations and contribute to clinical manifestations of SSc.
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