Roots are capable of measuring heat on their own

Date:
July 10, 2023
Source:
Martin-Luther-Universita"t Halle-Wittenberg
Summary:
Plant roots have their own thermometer to measure the
temperature of the soil around them and they adjust their growth
accordingly. Through extensive experiments, a team was able to
demonstrate that roots have their own temperature sensing and
response system. In a new study, the scientists also provide a new
explanation for how roots themselves detect and react to higher
temperatures. The results could help develop new approaches for
plant breeding.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Plant roots have their own thermometer to measure the temperature of
the soil around them and they adjust their growth accordingly. Through extensive experiments, a team led by Martin Luther University
Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), was able to demonstrate that roots have their
own temperature sensing and response system. In a new study in The EMBO Journal, the scientists also provide a new explanation for how roots
themselves detect and react to higher temperatures.

The results could help develop new approaches for plant breeding.

The researchers used climate chambers to investigate how the plant model organism thale cress and the two crops cabbage and tomatoes react to
rising ambient temperatures. They increased the ambient temperature from
20 to 28DEGC (68 to 82.4 degrees Fahrenheit). "Until now, it was assumed
that the plant shoot controlled the process for the entire plant and
acted as a long-distance transmitter that signalled to the root that it
should alter its growth," says Professor Marcel Quint from the Institute
of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences at MLU. His team has now been
able to disprove this through extensive experiments in cooperation with researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB),
ETH Zurich and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in
Cologne. In one experiment, scientists cut off the shoot of the plants
but allowed the roots to continue to grow. "We found that the roots were
not affected by this and grew at elevated temperatures in the same way
as on plants with intact shoots. The higher temperature stimulated cell division and the roots became significantly longer," says Quint. The
team also used mutant plants whose shoots could no longer detect and
respond to higher temperatures.

Those were grafted onto roots without this defect. Here, too, the roots
were able to react to the heat in the soil, even though the shoot did
nothing.

The researchers found in all of their experiments that root cells
increased the production of the growth hormone auxin, which was then transported to the root tips. There, it stimulated cell division and
enabled the roots to reach further down into the soil. "As heat and
drought usually occur in tandem, it makes sense for the plants to tap
into deeper and cooler soil layers that contain water," Quint explains.

Scientists have understood how plant shoots react to higher temperatures
for some time. Their cells also produce more auxin, but the plant reacts differently than its roots. The cells in the shoot stretch, the stalk
grows taller, and the leaves become narrower and grow farther apart.

The study also provides new insights for plant breeding. "In view of
climate change, root growth is becoming more and more important for
breeding.

Understanding the molecular basis for temperature-dependent root growth
might help to effectively equip plants against drought stress and achieve stable yields in the long term," says Quint. Quint's team will continue
its work in this field of research in the coming years. A few weeks ago,
the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)
granted him around 500,000 euros for a new research project on precisely
this topic.

The study was funded by the DFG, the Chinese Scholarship Fund, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Max
Planck Society.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Plants_&_Animals
# Endangered_Plants # Botany # Agriculture_and_Food
# Nature
o Earth_&_Climate
# Weather # Severe_Weather # Climate # Ecology
* RELATED_TERMS
o Root_vegetable o Soil o Ginger o Fertilizer o Seed o Agronomy
o Temperature o Plant_cell

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Story Source: Materials provided by Martin-Luther-Universita"t_Halle-Wittenberg. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Haiyue Ai, Julia Bellstaedt, Kai Steffen Bartusch, Lennart
Eschen‐Lippold, Steve Babben, Gerd Ulrich Balcke, Alain
Tissier, Bettina Hause, Tonni Grube Andersen, Carolin Delker,
Marcel Quint.

Auxin‐dependent regulation of cell division rates governs
root thermomorphogenesis. The EMBO Journal, 2023; 42 (11) DOI:
10.15252/ embj.2022111926 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230710113829.htm

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