title: Repression of early lateral root initiation events by transient water deficit in barley and maize.
abstract: The formation of lateral roots (LRs) is a key driver of root system architecture and developmental plasticity. The first stage of LR formation, which leads to the acquisition of founder cell identity in the pericycle, is the primary determinant of root branching patterns. The fact that initiation events occur asynchronously in a very small number of cells inside the parent root has been a major difficulty in the study of the molecular regulation of branching patterns. Inducible systems that trigger synchronous lateral formation at predictable sites have proven extremely valuable in Arabidopsis to decipher the first steps of LR formation. Here, we present a LR repression system for cereals that relies on a transient water-deficit treatment, which blocks LR initiation before the first formative divisions. Using a time-lapse approach, we analysed the dynamics of this repression along growing roots and were able to show that it targets a very narrow developmental window of the initiation process. Interestingly, the repression can be exploited to obtain negative control root samples where LR initiation is absent. This system could be instrumental in the analysis of the molecular basis of drought-responsive as well as intrinsic pathways of LR formation in cereals.
authors.affiliation: Earth and Life Institute, Agronomy, Université Catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2, L7.05.11, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Babé
authors.forename: Tristan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lavigne
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Séverin
authors.forename: Kerstin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Nagel
authors.forename: Achim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chaumont
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Batoko
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Beeckman
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Draye
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D002455:Cell Division; D055864:Droughts; D001467:Hordeum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D007210:Indoleacetic Acids / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D059828:Plant Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013997:Time Factors; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism*; D003313:Zea mays / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D007210:Indoleacetic Acids; D014867:Water