Plant growth in cold climates is not limited by carbon assimilation (source activity) but rather by reduced carbon investment into new tissues (sink limitation). It has been hypothesized that all cold-adapted plants face similar growth constraints at low temperature mainly associated with the formation of new tissues. To explore the thermal limitation of plant tissue formation, we studied root ...

Root apex of higher plants shows very high sensitivity to environmental stimuli. The root cap acts as the most prominent plant sensory organ; sensing diverse physical parameters such as gravity, light, humidity, oxygen, and critical inorganic nutrients. However, the motoric responses to these stimuli are accomplished in the elongation region. This spatial discrepancy was solved when we have dis...

Soil alkalinity is a widespread environmental problem that limits agricultural productivity. The hypothesis that an auxin-regulated proton secretion by plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase plays an important role in root adaption to alkaline stress was studied. It was found that alkaline stress increased auxin transport and PIN2 (an auxin efflux transporter) abundance in the root tip of wild-type Arabid...

The net orientation of cellulose fibrils in the outer epidermal wall of the root elongation zone of 57 angiosperm species belonging to 29 families was determined by means of Congo Red fluorescence and polarization confocal microscopy. The angiosperms can be divided in three groups. In all but four plant families, the net orientation of the cellulose fibrils is transverse to the root axis. Three...

Rice is an important monocotyledonous crop worldwide; it differs from the dicotyledonous plant Arabidopsis in many aspects. In Arabidopsis, ethylene and auxin act synergistically to regulate root growth and development. However, their interaction in rice is still unclear. Here, we report that the transcriptional activation of OsEIL1 on the expression of YUC8/REIN7 and indole-3-pyruvic acid (IPA...

Ethylene represents an important regulatory signal for root development. Genetic studies in Arabidopsis thaliana have demonstrated that ethylene inhibition of root growth involves another hormone signal, auxin. This study investigated why auxin was required by ethylene to regulate root growth. We initially observed that ethylene positively controls auxin biosynthesis in the root apex. We subseq...

Root and hypocotyl elongation, water status and solute accumulation were studied in osmotically stressed seedlings of the tropical tree, Colophospermum mopane (Kirk ex Benth.) Kirk ex J. Léonard, which grows in hot arid areas of southern and central Africa. Seeds were imbibed for 24 h and then subjected to a polyethylene-glycol-generated osmotic stress of -0.03 (control), -0.2, -0.8, -1.6 or -2...

The effects of white light and decapitation on the initiation and subsequent emergence and elongation of lateral roots of apical maize (Zea mays L. cv LG 11) root segments have been examined. The formation of lateral root primordium was inhibited by the white light. This inhibition did not depend upon the presence of the primary root tip. However, root decapitation induced a shift of the site o...

Arabidopsis root growth kinetics were investigated with high temporal and spatial resolution in combination with detailed statistical analysis to resolve presence of diurnal modulation of root tip displacement. In particular, high resolution video imaging was used to monitor root-tip displacement of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings over several days. Root growth kinetics were sampled and statisti...