Adventitious root formation in rice

The root system is fundamentally important for plants to efficiently obtain nutrients and water. In contrast to the primary root system of plants, roots of monocot cereals consist almost entirely of a complex fibrous system and a mass of adventitious roots (ARs). AR formation is the process of root initiation from the stem base post-embryonically, which is tightly regulated to prevent the loss of valuable plant resources for non-essential root formation. A lack of stable and credible morphological data makes it difficult to study physiological and molecular mechanisms governing AR growth. However, comprehensive understanding of AR development should have important implications for manipulating root architecture, which contributes to both improving crop yield and optimizing agricultural land use.

Several plant hormones control AR formation, in which auxin plays a pivotal role. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is the predominant form of active auxin in plants and it induces both AR and lateral root (LR) formation. Strigolactones (SLs) and their derivatives are plant hormones that have recently been identified as regulating root development. This study examines whether SLs play a role in mediating production of adventious roots (ARs) in rice (Oryza sativa), and also investigates possible interactions between SLs and auxin.

Sun, Huwei, Jinyuan Tao, Mengmeng Hou, Shuangjie Huang, Si Chen, Zhihao Liang, Tianning Xie et al. (2015) A strigolactone signal is required for adventitious root formation in rice. Annals of Botany doi: 10.1093/aob/mcv052
Strigolactones (SLs) and their derivatives are plant hormones that have recently been identified as regulating root development. This study examines whether SLs play a role in mediating production of adventious roots (ARs) in rice (Oryza sativa), and also investigates possible interactions between SLs and auxin. Wild-type (WT), SL-deficient (d10) and SL-insensitive (d3) rice mutants were used to investigate AR development in an auxin-distribution experiment that considered DR5::GUS activity, [3H] indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) transport, and associated expression of auxin transporter genes. The effects of exogenous application of GR24 (a synthetic SL analogue), NAA (α-naphthylacetic acid, exogenous auxin) and NPA (N-1-naphthylphalamic acid, a polar auxin transport inhibitor) on rice AR development in seedlings were investigated. The rice d mutants with impaired SL biosynthesis and signalling exhibited reduced AR production compared with the WT. Application of GR24 increased the number of ARs and average AR number per tiller in d10, but not in d3. These results indicate that rice AR production is positively regulated by SLs. Higher endogenous IAA concentration, stronger expression of DR5::GUS and higher [3H] IAA activity were found in the d mutants. Exogenous GR24 application decreased the expression of DR5::GUS, probably indicating that SLs modulate AR formation by inhibiting polar auxin transport. The WT and the d10 and d3 mutants had similar expression of DR5::GUS regardless of exogenous application of NAA or NPA; however, AR number was greater in the WT than in the d mutants. The results suggest that AR formation is positively regulated by SLs via the D3 response pathway. The positive effect of NAA application and the opposite effect of NPA application on AR number of WT plants also suggests the importance of auxin for AR formation, but the interaction between auxin and SLs is complex.