Abstract
White lupin produces cluster roots in response to phosphorus deficiency. Along the cluster root, numerous short rootlets successively appear, creating a spatial and temporal gradient of developmental stages that constitutes a powerful biological model to study the dynamics of the structural and functional evolution of these organs. The present study proposes a fine histochemical, transcriptomic and functional analysis of the rootlet development from its emergence to its final length. Between these two stages, the tissue structures of the rootlets were observed, the course of transcript expressions for the genes differentially expressed was monitored and some physiological events linked to Pi nutrition were followed. A switch between (i) a growing phase, in which a normal apical meristem is present and (ii) a specialized phase for nutrition, in which the rootlet is completely differentiated, was highlighted. In the final stage of its determinate growth, the rootlet is an organ with a very active metabolism, especially for the solubilization and absorption of several nutrients. This work discusses how the transition between a growing to a determinate state in response to nutritional stresses is found in other species and underlines the fundamental dilemma of roots between soil exploration and soil exploitation.
Highlights
Plant roots are adaptive systems able to adjust their architecture and physiology to their fluctuating environment in order to achieve efficient uptake of water and mineral nutrients (Rogers and Benfey, 2015)
We focused on three genes known to be involved in the network controlling the meristem maintenance in the model plant A. thaliana: WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX 5 (WOX5), SCARECROW (SCR) and REPRESSOR OF WUSCHEL 1 (ROW1) (Drisch and Stahl, 2015)
The present study focused on the root systems of 16-days-old white lupin that produced several cluster roots in their upper part in response to phosphorus starvation (Figure 1A)
Summary
Plant roots are adaptive systems able to adjust their architecture and physiology to their fluctuating environment in order to achieve efficient uptake of water and mineral nutrients (Rogers and Benfey, 2015). One of the most important changes observed in the adaptation of the A. thaliana root system to Pi deficiency, is the arrest of primary root growth and the increase in the number and length of lateral roots (Bouain et al, 2016; Balzergue et al, 2017). This developmental plasticity is based on de novo organogenesis of root meristems from primary root differentiated tissues that initiate the new lateral root primordia
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