Root RADAR: how 'rhizocrine' signals allow roots to detect and respond to their soil environment and stresses

Pandey, Bipin K; George, Timothy S; Cooper, Hannah V; Sturrock, Craig J; Bennett, Tom; Bennett, Malcolm J

Abstract

Agricultural intensification coupled with changing climate are causing soils to become increasingly vulnerable to stresses such as drought, soil erosion and compaction. The mechanisms by which roots detect and respond to soil stresses remains poorly understood. Recent breakthroughs show that roots release volatile and soluble hormone signals into the surrounding soil, then monitor their levels to sense soil stresses. Our Darwin review discusses how hormones can act ‘outside the plant’ as ‘rhizocrine’ signals that function to improve plant resilience to different soil stresses. We also propose a novel signalling paradigm which we term ‘root RADAR’ where ‘rhizocrine’ levels change in soil in response to environmental stresses, feeding back to roots and triggering acclimative programmes.

Citation

Pandey, B. K., George, T. S., Cooper, H. V., Sturrock, C. J., Bennett, T., & Bennett, M. J. (2024). Root RADAR: how 'rhizocrine' signals allow roots to detect and respond to their soil environment and stresses. Journal of Experimental Botany, https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae490

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 26, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Dec 3, 2024
• Publication Date: Dec 3, 2024
• Deposit Date: Dec 9, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 10, 2024
• Print ISSN: 0022-0957
• Electronic ISSN: 1460-2431
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae490
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/42831911
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jxb/erae490/7915911