The early development of nodal adventitious roots with root hairs and root hair deformations by Elodea nuttallii (Planchon) H. St. Johns

Abstract

Elodea nuttallii is a globally distributed aquatic vascular plant that provides many ecosystem services. In the sediment its roots fulfill important geochemical functions and initiate biological interactions within the rhizosphere. However, the macro-anatomy and development of its roots remained widely uncharacterized. This study aims to analyze the early morphogenesis of Elodeas roots and their general macro-anatomy. Therefore, plants free of roots were planted on two different sediment types and harvested along an individual time axis after the first roots were developed. All plants were photographed, measured and the roots were microscopically analyzed. Elodea has nodal adventitious roots, non-woody and from shoots. All roots have a root tip with a well-developed apical meristem and a root cap, an elongation zone, and a well-developed maturation zone with root hairs. Root hair deformations like swollen root hairs, swollen root hair tips, and branched root hairs most often developed when plants were grown on nutrient-poor, coarse-grained sediment. We here present a first description of the morpho- genesis and macro-anatomy of roots developed by E. nuttallii. This work will improve our understanding of this important species and foster further studies on the coupling between physiological processes, the morphogenesis, anatomy, ecosystem services, economical use, and management strategies related to E. nuttallii.