Hydrotropism: how roots search for water

Dietrich, Daniela

Abstract

Fresh water is an increasingly scarce resource for agriculture. Plant roots mediate water uptake from the soil and have developed a number of adaptive traits such as hydrotropism to aid water foraging. Hydrotropism modifies root growth to respond to a water potential gradient in soil and grow towards areas with a higher moisture content. Abscisic acid (ABA) and a small number of genes, including those encoding ABA signal transducers, MIZ2/GNOM, and the hydrotropism-specific MIZ1, are known to be necessary for the response in Arabidopsis thaliana, whereas the role of auxin in hydrotropism appears to vary depending on the plant species. This review will describe recent progress characterizing the hormonal regulation of hydrotropism. Recent advances in identifying the sites of hydrotropic perception and response, together with its interaction with gravitropism, will also be discussed. Finally, I will describe putative mechanisms for perception of the water potential gradient and a potential role for hydrotropism in acclimatizing plants to drought conditions.

Citation

Dietrich, D. (2018). Hydrotropism: how roots search for water. Journal of Experimental Botany, 69(11), 2759-2771. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ery034

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 18, 2018
• Publication Date: Feb 26, 2018
• Deposit Date: Apr 9, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 27, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Experimental Botany
• Print ISSN: 0022-0957
• Electronic ISSN: 1460-2431
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 69
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 2759-2771
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ery034
• Keywords: Abscisic acid, auxin, drought, gravitropism, hydrotropism, root, water, water potential gradient
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/916473
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jxb/ery034/4910007
• Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Experimental Botany following peer review. The version of record, Daniela Dietrich; Hydrotropism: how roots search for water, Journal of Experimental Botany, v. 69, issue 11, 19 May 2018, p. 2759-2771, is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jxb/ery034/4910007 and doi:10.1093/jxb/ery034.