Organizations operating Root DNS servers report loads exceeding 100 million queries per day. Given the design goals of the DNS, and what we know about today’s Internet, this number is about two orders of magnitude more than we would expect. With the assistance of one root server operator, we took a 24-hour trace of queries arriving at one of the thirteen root servers. In this paper we analyze t...

Patterns of root abscisic acid (ABA) accumulation ([ABA]root), root water potential (Ψroot), and root water uptake (RWU), and their impact on xylem sap ABA concentration ([X-ABA]) were measured under vertical partial root-zone drying (VPRD, upper compartment dry, lower compartment wet) and horizontal partial root-zone drying (HPRD, two lateral compartments: one dry, the other wet) of potato (So...

Root growth inhibition by water stress may be related to oxidative damages. The objectives of this study were to determine whether exogenous application of ascorbic acid (ASA) could mitigate root growth decline due to water stress and whether ASA effects on root growth could be regulated through activating non-enzymatic or enzymatic antioxidant systems in perennial grass species. Tall fescue (F...

We used a video digitizer system to (a) measure changes in the pattern of longitudinal surface extension in primary roots of maize (Zea mays L.) upon application and withdrawal of auxin and (b) compare these patterns during gravitropism in control roots and roots pretreated with auxin. Special attention was paid to the distal elongation zone (DEZ), arbitrarily defined as the region between the ...

The productivity of olive trees in arid and semi-arid environments is closely linked to irrigation. It is necessary to improve the efficiency of irrigation techniques to optimise the amount of olive fruit produced in relation to the volume of water used. Partial root-zone drying (PRD) is a water saving irrigation technique that theoretically allows the production of a root-to-shoot signal that ...

Plasticity, the hallmark of plant morphogenesis, extends to kinetics. To enhance acclimation, growing plant organs adeptly adjust their growth rate, up or down. In roots, rates of division and elemental expansion as well as the length of division and elongation zones are readily characterized because of their linear organization, radial symmetry, and indeterminate growth, and can be measured ac...

Rice (Oryza sativa) is usually grown under flooded conditions, leading to anoxic periods in the soil. Rice plants transport oxygen via aerenchyma from the atmosphere to the roots. Driven by O2 release into the rhizosphere, radial gradients of ferric Fe and co-precipitated organic substances are formed. Our study aimed at elucidating the composition and spatial extension of those gradients. Air-...

The rhizosphere is a densely populated area in which plant roots must compete with invading root systems of neighboring plants for space, water, and mineral nutrients, and with other soil-borne organisms, including bacteria and fungi. Root-root and root-microbe communications are continuous occurrences in this biologically active soil zone. How do roots manage to simultaneously communicate with...