All Outputs (26)

Single-cell transcriptomics reveal how root tissues adapt to soil stress (2025)
Journal Article
Zhu, M., Hsu, C.-W., Peralta Ogorek, L. L., Taylor, I. W., La Cavera, S., Oliveira, D. M., Verma, L., Mehra, P., Mijar, M., Sadanandom, A., Perez-Cota, F., Boerjan, W., Nolan, T. M., Bennett, M. J., Benfey, P. N., & Pandey, B. K. (2025). Single-cell transcriptomics reveal how root tissues adapt to soil stress. Nature, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08941-z

Land plants thrive in soils showing vastly different properties and environmental stresses1. Root systems can adapt to contrasting soil conditions and stresses, yet how their responses are programmed at the individual cell scale remains unclear. Usin... Read More about Single-cell transcriptomics reveal how root tissues adapt to soil stress.

Future crop breeding needs to consider future soils (2025)
Journal Article
Raza, S., Pandey, B. K., Hawkesford, M. J., Griffiths, S., Bennett, M. J., & Mooney, S. J. (2025). Future crop breeding needs to consider future soils. Nature Plants, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01977-z

Modern crop breeding and seed certification agencies ignore the known spatial heterogeneity of soils and develop cultivars to thrive in a ‘one-size-fits-all’ soil environment. Neglecting the evolving dynamics of soils substantially undermines the cap... Read More about Future crop breeding needs to consider future soils.

Moisture-responsive root-branching pathways identified in diverse maize breeding germplasm (2025)
Journal Article
Kieber, J., Zheng, Z., Schnable, P. S., Dinneny, J. R., Banda, J., Sturrock, C. J., Pandey, B. K., Bennett, M., Scharwies, J. D., Clarke, T., Dinneny, A., Birkeland, S., Veltman, M. A., Torres-Martínez, H. H., Viana, W. G., & Khare, R. (2025). Moisture-responsive root-branching pathways identified in diverse maize breeding germplasm. Science, 387(6734), 666-673. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ads5999

Plants grow complex root systems to extract unevenly distributed resources from soils. Spatial differences in soil moisture are perceived by root tips, leading to the patterning of new root branches toward available water in a process called hydropat... Read More about Moisture-responsive root-branching pathways identified in diverse maize breeding germplasm.

Root RADAR: how 'rhizocrine' signals allow roots to detect and respond to their soil environment and stresses (2024)
Journal Article
Pandey, B. K., George, T. S., Cooper, H. V., Sturrock, C. J., Bennett, T., & Bennett, M. J. (2025). Root RADAR: how 'rhizocrine' signals allow roots to detect and respond to their soil environment and stresses. Journal of Experimental Botany, 76(9), 1500-1509. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae490

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

Soil compaction sensing mechanisms and root responses (2024)
Journal Article
Peralta Ogorek, L. L., Gao, Y., Farrar, E., & Pandey, B. K. (2025). Soil compaction sensing mechanisms and root responses. Trends in Plant Science, 30(5), 565-575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2024.10.014

Soil compaction is an agricultural challenge with profound influence on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil. It causes drastic changes by increasing mechanical impedance, reducing water infiltration, gaseous exchange, and bi... Read More about Soil compaction sensing mechanisms and root responses.

Root Circumnutation Reduces Mechanical Resistance to Soil Penetration (2024)
Journal Article
Leuther, F., Iseskog, D., Keller, T., Larsbo, M., Pandey, B. K., & Colombi, T. (2025). Root Circumnutation Reduces Mechanical Resistance to Soil Penetration. Plant, Cell and Environment, 48(2), 1608-1620. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.15219

Root circumnutation, the helical movement of growing root tips, is a widely observed behaviour of plants. However, our mechanistic understanding of the impacts of root circumnutation on root growth and soil exploration is limited. Here, we deployed a... Read More about Root Circumnutation Reduces Mechanical Resistance to Soil Penetration.

Root hairs facilitate rice root penetration into compacted layers (2024)
Journal Article
Kong, X., Yu, S., Xiong, Y., Song, X., Nevescanin-Moreno, L., Wei, X., Rao, J., Zhou, H., Bennett, M. J., Pandey, B. K., & Huang, G. (2024). Root hairs facilitate rice root penetration into compacted layers. Current Biology, 34(10), 2039-2048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.03.064

Compacted soil layers adversely affect rooting depth and access to deeper nutrient and water resources, thereby impacting climate resilience of crop production and global food security. Root hair plays well-known roles in facilitating water and nutri... Read More about Root hairs facilitate rice root penetration into compacted layers.

Root plasticity vs. elasticity – When are responses acclimative? (2024)
Journal Article
Colombi, T., Pandey, B. K., Chawade, A., Bennett, M. J., Mooney, S., & Keller, T. (2024). Root plasticity vs. elasticity – When are responses acclimative?. Trends in Plant Science, 29(8), 856-864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2024.01.003

Spatiotemporal soil heterogeneity and the resulting edaphic stress cycles can be decisive for crop growth. However, our understanding of the acclimative value of root responses to heterogeneous soil conditions remains limited. We outline a framework... Read More about Root plasticity vs. elasticity – When are responses acclimative?.

Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth is associated with early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet (2024)
Journal Article
de la Fuente, C., Grondin, A., Sine, B., Debieu, M., Belin, C., Hajjarpoor, A., Atkinson, J. A., Passot, S., Salson, M., Orjuela, J., Tranchant-Dubreuil, C., Brossier, J.-R., Steffen, M., Morgado, C., Dinh, H. N., Pandey, B. K., Darmau, J., Champion, A., Petitot, A.-. S., Barrachina, C., …Laplaze, L. (2024). Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth is associated with early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet. eLife, https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.86169

Seedling root traits impact plant establishment under challenging environments. Pearl millet is one of the most heat and drought tolerant cereal crops that provides a vital food source across the sub-Saharan Sahel region. Pearl millet’s early root sy... Read More about Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth is associated with early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet.

Author Response: Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth is associated with early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet (2024)
Preprint / Working Paper
de la Fuente, C., Grondin, A., Sine, B., Debieu, M., Belin, C., Hajjarpoor, A., Atkinson, J. A., Passot, S., Salson, M., Orjuela, J., Tranchant-Dubreuil, C., Brossier, J.-R., Steffen, M., Morgado, C., Dinh, H. N., Pandey, B. K., Darmau, J., Champion, A., Petitot, A.-S., Barrachina, C., …Laplaze, L. Author Response: Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth is associated with early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet

Seedling root traits impact plant establishment under challenging environments. Pearl millet is one of the most heat and drought tolerant cereal crops that provides a vital food source across the sub-Saharan Sahel region. Pearl millet’s early root sy... Read More about Author Response: Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth is associated with early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet.

Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth confers early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet (2023)
Preprint / Working Paper
de la Fuente, C., Grondin, A., Sine, B., Debieu, M., Belin, C., Hajjarpoor, A., Atkinson, J. A., Passot, S., Salson, M., Orjuela, J., Tranchant-Dubreuil, C., Brossier, J.-R., Steffen, M., Morgado, C., Dinh, H. N., Pandey, B. K., Darmau, J., Champion, A., Petitot, A.-. S., Barrachina, C., …Laplaze, L. Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth confers early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet

Seedling root traits impact plant establishment under challenging environments. Pearl millet is one of the most heat and drought tolerant cereal crops that provides a vital food source across the sub-Saharan Sahel region. Pearl millet’s early root sy... Read More about Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth confers early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet.

Uncovering root compaction response mechanisms: new insights and opportunities (2023)
Journal Article
Pandey, B. K., & Bennett, M. J. (2024). Uncovering root compaction response mechanisms: new insights and opportunities. Journal of Experimental Botany, 75(2), 578-583. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erad389

Compaction disrupts soil structure, reducing root growth, nutrient and water uptake, gas exchange, and microbial growth. Root growth inhibition by soil compaction was originally thought to reflect the impact of mechanical impedance and reduced water... Read More about Uncovering root compaction response mechanisms: new insights and opportunities.

Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth confers early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet (2023)
Preprint / Working Paper
de la Fuente, C., Grondin, A., Sine, B., Debieu, M., Belin, C., Hajjarpoor, A., Atkinson, J. A., Passot, S., Salson, M., Orjuela, J., Tranchant-Dubreuil, C., Brossier, J.-R., Steffen, M., Morgado, C., Dinh, H. N., Pandey, B. K., Darmau, J., Champion, A., Petitot, A.-. S., Barrachina, C., …Laplaze, L. (2024). Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth confers early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet

Seedling root traits impact plant establishment under challenging environments. Pearl millet is one of the most heat and drought tolerant cereal crops that provides a vital food source across the sub-Saharan Sahel region. Pearl millet’s early root sy... Read More about Glutaredoxin regulation of primary root growth confers early drought stress tolerance in pearl millet.

Hydraulic flux–responsive hormone redistribution determines root branching (2022)
Journal Article
Mehra, P., Pandey, B. K., Melebari, D., Banda, J., Leftley, N., Couvreur, V., Rowe, J., Anfang, M., De Gernier, H., Morris, E., Sturrock, C. J., Mooney, S. J., Swarup, R., Faulkner, C., Beeckman, T., Bhalerao, R. P., Shani, E., Jones, A. M., Dodd, I. C., Sharp, R. E., …Bennett, M. J. (2022). Hydraulic flux–responsive hormone redistribution determines root branching. Science, 378(6621), 762-768. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.add3771

Plant roots exhibit plasticity in their branching patterns to forage efficiently for heterogeneously distributed resources, such as soil water. The xerobranching response represses lateral root formation when roots lose contact with water. Here, we s... Read More about Hydraulic flux–responsive hormone redistribution determines root branching.

Root angle is controlled by EGT1in cereal crops employing anantigravitropic mechanism (2022)
Journal Article
Fusi, R., Rosignoli, S., Lou, H., Sangiorgi, G., Bovina, R., Pattem, J. K., Borkar, A. N., Lombardi, M., Forestan, C., Milner, S. G., Davis, J. L., Lale, A., Kirschner, G. K., Swarup, R., Tassinari, A., Pandey, B. K., York, L. M., Atkinson, B. S., Sturrock, C. J., Mooney, S. J., …Salvi, S. (2022). Root angle is controlled by EGT1in cereal crops employing anantigravitropic mechanism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,

Root angle in crops represents a key trait for efficient capture of soil resources. Root angle is determined by competing gravitropic versus anti-gravitropic offset (AGO) mechanisms. Here we report a new root angle regulatory gene termed ENHANCED GRA... Read More about Root angle is controlled by EGT1in cereal crops employing anantigravitropic mechanism.

Ethylene inhibits rice root elongation in compacted soil via ABA- and auxin-mediated mechanisms (2022)
Journal Article
Huang, G., Kilic, A., Karady, M., Zhang, J., Mehra, P., Song, X., Sturrock, C. J., Zhu, W., Qin, H., Hartman, S., Schneider, H. M., Bhosale, R., Dodd, I. C., Sharp, R. E., Huang, R., Mooney, S. J., Liang, W., Bennett, M. J., Zhang, D., & Pandey, B. K. (2022). Ethylene inhibits rice root elongation in compacted soil via ABA- and auxin-mediated mechanisms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(30), Article e2201072119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201072119

Soil compaction represents a major agronomic challenge, inhibiting root elongation and impacting crop yields. Roots use ethylene to sense soil compaction as the restricted air space causes this gaseous signal to accumulate around root tips. Ethylene... Read More about Ethylene inhibits rice root elongation in compacted soil via ABA- and auxin-mediated mechanisms.

𝑂𝑠𝐽𝐴𝑍11 regulates spikelet and seed development in rice (2022)
Journal Article
Mehra, P., Pandey, B. K., Verma, L., Prusty, A., Singh, A. P., Sharma, S., Malik, N., Bennett, M. J., Parida, S. K., Giri, J., & Tyagi, A. K. (2022). 𝑂𝑠𝐽𝐴𝑍11 regulates spikelet and seed development in rice. Plant Direct, 6(5), Article e401. https://doi.org/10.1002/pld3.401

Seed size is one of the major determinants of seed weight and eventually, crop yield. As the global population is increasing beyond the capacity of current food production, enhancing seed size is a key target for crop breeders. Despite the identifica... Read More about 𝑂𝑠𝐽𝐴𝑍11 regulates spikelet and seed development in rice.

Orchestration of ethylene and gibberellin signals determines primary root elongation in rice (2022)
Journal Article
Qin, H., Pandey, B. K., Li, Y., Huang, G., Wang, J., Quan, R., Zhou, J., Zhou, Y., Miao, Y., Zhang, D., Bennett, M. J., & Huang, R. (2022). Orchestration of ethylene and gibberellin signals determines primary root elongation in rice. Plant Cell, 34(4), 1273-1288. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac008

Primary root growth in cereal crops is fundamental for early establishment of the seedling and grain yield. In young rice (Oryza sativa) seedlings, the primary root grows rapidly for 7-10 days after germination and then stops; however, the underlying... Read More about Orchestration of ethylene and gibberellin signals determines primary root elongation in rice.

OsJAZ11 regulates phosphate starvation responses in rice (2021)
Journal Article
Pandey, B. K., Verma, L., Prusty, A., Singh, A. P., Bennett, M. J., Tyagi, A. K., Giri, J., & Mehra, P. (2021). OsJAZ11 regulates phosphate starvation responses in rice. Planta, 254(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-021-03657-6

Main conclusion: OsJAZ11 regulates phosphate homeostasis by suppressing jasmonic acid signaling and biosynthesis in rice roots. Abstract: Jasmonic Acid (JA) is a key plant signaling molecule which negatively regulates growth processes including root... Read More about OsJAZ11 regulates phosphate starvation responses in rice.

Uncovering How Auxin Optimizes Root Systems Architecture in Response to Environmental Stresses (2021)
Journal Article
Leftley, N., Banda, J., Pandey, B., Bennett, M., & Voß, U. (2021). Uncovering How Auxin Optimizes Root Systems Architecture in Response to Environmental Stresses. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 13(11), Article a040014. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a040014

Since colonizing land, plants have developed mechanisms to tolerate a broad range of abiotic stresses that include flooding, drought, high salinity, and nutrient limitation. Roots play a key role acclimating plants to these as their developmental pla... Read More about Uncovering How Auxin Optimizes Root Systems Architecture in Response to Environmental Stresses.