Root hairs enhance Arabidopsis seedling survival upon soil disruption

Abstract

Root hairs form a substantial portion of the root surface area. Compared with their nutritional function, the physical function of root hairs has been poorly characterised. This study investigates the physical role of root hairs of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings in interaction of the root with water and soil and in plant survival upon soil disruption. Five transgenic lines with different root hair lengths were used to assess the physical function of root hairs. Upon soil disruption by water falling from a height (mimicking rainfall), long-haired lines showed much higher anchorage rates than short-haired lines. The root-pulling test revealed that a greater amount of soil adhered to long-haired roots than to short-haired roots. When seedlings were pulled out and laid on the soil surface for 15 d, survival rates of long-haired seedlings were higher than those of short-haired seedlings. Moreover, the water holding capacity of roots was much greater among long-haired seedlings than short-haired seedlings. These results suggest that root hairs play a significant role in plant survival upon soil disruption which could be fatal for young seedlings growing on thin soil surface with a short primary root and root hairs as the only soil anchoring system.

A centrifuge-based method for identifying novel genetic traits that affect root-substrate adhesion inArabidopsis thaliana

“…Results presented in this paper show that the centrifuge assay can quantify effects of root hair morphology on plant-substrate adhesion. Previous work has shown that the presence of root hairs can significantly enhance root-substrate adhesion compared to the absence of root hairs (Choi and Cho, 2019;De Baets et al, 2020;Haling et al, 2013). We now show that our centrifuge assay can distinguish the adherence strength of seedlings with altered root hair shapes and sizes ( Figure 2) and can quantify the contribution these morphological traits make to plant-substrate interactions.…”

A Centrifuge-Based Method for Identifying Novel Genetic Traits That Affect Root-Substrate Adhesion in Arabidopsis thaliana

“…Results presented in this paper show that the centrifuge assay can quantify effects of root hair morphology on plantsubstrate adhesion. Previous work has shown that the presence of root hairs can significantly enhance root-substrate adhesion compared to the absence of root hairs (Haling et al, 2013;Choi and Cho, 2019;De Baets et al, 2020). We now show that our centrifuge assay can distinguish the adherence strength of seedlings with altered root hair shapes and sizes ( Figure 2) and can quantify the contribution these morphological traits make to plant-substrate interactions.…”

Impacts of LEDs in the Red Spectrum on the Germination, Early Seedling Growth and Antioxidant Metabolism of Pea (Pisum sativum L.) and Melon (Cucumis melo L.)

“…In addition, RL exposure improved the root architecture, as seen by the increased volume of root hairs in both species. In this sense, increased root hairs can be a key point on facilitating seedling growth rate, as they have an important physical function in water absorption and nutrition [36]. Phytochromes have been reported to regulate the red light-mediated elongation of the primary root [37].…”