Plant root defense weapon – Florida News Times

Plants adapt to their nutritional needs by altering root permeability through the formation or degradation of a cork-like layer called suberin. By studying the regulation of this protective layer in Arabidopsis, an international team led by scientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) in Switzerland discovered four molecular factors involved in the genetic activation of Sverin. The identification of these factors has enabled the production of plants with roots that are continuously covered with suberin or, conversely, completely lacking. These factors are of great concern for the selection of plants that are more resistant to environmental stress.This work is published in the journal Minutes of the National Academy of Sciences (((PNAS).

The uptake of nutrients and water roots from the soil must be selective, especially if the environment is toxic to plants. Suberin, Plant rootsIs a substance composed of lipids that acts as a protective barrier against various environmental stresses. Indeed, a previous study by Marie Barberon, a professor of botany and plant biology at UNIGE’s Faculty of Science, found that suberin, the main component of cork, can cover cell walls or, conversely, be degraded. Alters the permeability of roots to the nutrients present in the environment shown. Therefore, the suberin layer protects the plant from water loss and the presence of toxic elements such as salt and cadmium, but it can also optimize the acquisition of nutrients needed for growth.

Four important elements of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana

To understand how the presence of suberin is regulated, an international team led by Marie Barberon is interested in specific regulators present in the endothelium that surrounds the blood vessels that carry sap and forms suberin. Was there. This study was conducted on widely used model organisms. Plant biology, Arabidopsis. “Using the root transparency, which is one of the characteristics of this plant, we were able to directly observe the presence or absence of suberin after staining under a microscope and identify the factors essential for its production,” the researchers said. Vinay Shukla explains. The first author of this study in the Department of Botany and Plant Biology. This allowed biologists to identify four major proteins involved in the formation of suberin in the endothelium. “I got this plant Its roots are always covered with suberin. We also used CRISPR / Cas9 technology to generate four mutants of these proteins with impaired suberin production, “continues Vinay Shukla.

Towards super-tolerant plants

Second, these modified Arabidopsis plants grew in environments with different levels of sodium, a nutrient contained in salt and required for plant growth, but can be toxic in high concentrations in soil. there is. “Plants whose roots are continuously covered with suberin have been observed to absorb less sodium than plants without suberin, while the latter are less resistant to toxic concentrations,” Marie said. Barberon commented.

This discovery of important factors regulating root suberin formation provides a valuable genetic tool for more accurately studying its role in maintaining the nutritional balance of plants, but salt stress, drought. Or it also provides resistance to floods. These results can also have significant agricultural implications by using suberin and the factors identified in this study as follows: root A trait for selecting plants that are more resistant to adverse environmental conditions.