Pea (Pisum sativum) roots were treated with aluminum in a calcium solution, and lipid peroxidation was investigated histochemically and biochemically, as well as other events caused by aluminum exposure. Histochemical stainings were observed to distribute similarly on the entire surface of the root apex for three events (aluminum accumulation, lipid peroxidation, and callose production), but th...

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the most salt-tolerant cereal crop and has excellent genetic and genomic resources. It is therefore a good model to study salt-tolerance mechanisms in cereals. We aimed to determine metabolic differences between a cultivated barley, Clipper (tolerant), and a North African landrace, Sahara (susceptible), previously shown to have contrasting root growth phenotypes i...

Root growth in higher plants is sensitive to excess ammonium (NH(4)(+)). Our study shows that contact of NH(4)(+) with the primary root tip is both necessary and sufficient to the development of arrested root growth under NH(4)(+) nutrition in Arabidopsis. We show that cell elongation and not cell division is the principal target in the NH(4)(+) inhibition of primary root growth. Mutant and exp...

It is well-established in Arabidopsis and other species that ethylene inhibits root elongation through the action of auxin. In sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) ethylene promotes root elongation in a concentration dependent manner. However, the crosstalk between ethylene and auxin remains unknown during sugar beet seedling development. Our experiments have shown that exogenously applied auxin (indo...

Recently, Ishikawa and Evans (1995) focused attention on the immediately postmitotic growth zone of plant roots and indicated its importance in root growth in response to interna1 and externa1 factors. This previously unrecognized region of the root, intercalated between the apical meristem and the zone of rapid cell elongation, was originally discovered as the result of a morphometric analysis...

Physical damage can strongly affect plant growth, reducing the biomass of developing organs situated at a distance from wounds. These effects, previously studied in leaves, require the activation of jasmonate (JA) signalling. Using a novel assay involving repetitive cotyledon wounding in Arabidopsis seedlings, we uncovered a function of JA in suppressing cell division and elongation in roots. R...

The protein family of anion channel (ClC) constitute a family of transmembrane trnsporters that either function as anion channel or as H+/anion exchanger. The expression of three genes of AtClCa, AtClCb and AtClCd in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana were silenced by a T-DNA insertion . When the pH of the medium was slightly acidic the length of the primary root of plants with a disrupted At...

Methyl 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propionate (MHPP) is a root exudate that functions as a nitrification inhibitor and as a modulator of the root system architecture (RSA) by inhibiting primary root (PR) elongation and promoting lateral root formation. However, the mechanism underlying MHPP-mediated modulation of the RSA remains unclear. Here, we report that MHPP inhibits PR elongation in Arabidopsis (A...

The plant plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase regulates pH homeostasis and cell elongation in roots through the formation of an electrochemical H+ gradient across the PM and a decrease in apoplastic pH; however, the detailed signaling for the regulation of PM H+-ATPases remains unclear. Here, we show that an auxin influx carrier, AUXIN RESISTANT1 (AUX1), is required for the maintenance of PM H+-ATPa...