Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Professor MALCOLM BENNETT's Outputs (135)

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.

Modeling root loss reveals impacts on nutrient uptake and crop development (2022)
Journal Article
Schäfer, E. D., Owen, M. R., Band, L. R., Farcot, E., Bennett, M. J., & Lynch, J. P. (2022). Modeling root loss reveals impacts on nutrient uptake and crop development. Plant Physiology, 190(4), 2260-2278. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiac405

Abstract Despite the widespread prevalence of root loss in plants, its effects on crop productivity are not fully understood. While root loss reduces the capacity of plants to take up water and nutrients from the soil, it may provide benefits by decr... Read More about Modeling root loss reveals impacts on nutrient uptake and crop development.

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.

Non-invasive isotope-based hydrodynamic imaging in plant roots at cellular resolution (2022)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Couvreur, V., Pascut, F. C., Dietrich, D., Leftley, N., Reyt, G., Boursiac, Y., Calvo-Polanco, M., Casimiro, I., Maurel, C., Salt, D. E., Draye, X., Wells, D. M., Bennett, M. J., & Webb, K. F. (2022, May). Non-invasive isotope-based hydrodynamic imaging in plant roots at cellular resolution. Presented at EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria and online

A key impediment to studying water-related mechanisms in plants is the inability to noninvasively image water fluxes in cells at high temporal and spatial resolution. Here, we report that Raman microspectroscopy, complemented by hydrodynamic modellin... Read More about Non-invasive isotope-based hydrodynamic imaging in plant roots at cellular resolution.

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.

Root system size and root hair length are key phenes for nitrate acquisition and biomass production across natural variation in Arabidopsis (2022)
Journal Article
De Pessemier, J., Moturu, T. R., Nacry, P., Ebert, R., De Gernier, H., Tillard, P., Swarup, K., Wells, D. M., Haseloff, J., Murray, S. C., Bennett, M. J., Inze, D., Vincent, C. I., & Hermans, C. (2022). Root system size and root hair length are key phenes for nitrate acquisition and biomass production across natural variation in Arabidopsis. Journal of Experimental Botany, 73(11), 3569-3583

The role of root phenes in nitrogen (N) acquisition and biomass production was evaluated in 10 contrasting natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana L. Seedlings were grown on vertical agar plates with two different nitrate supplies. The low N treat... Read More about Root system size and root hair length are key phenes for nitrate acquisition and biomass production across natural variation in Arabidopsis.

Systems approaches reveal that ABCB and PIN proteins mediate co-dependent auxin efflux (2022)
Journal Article
Mellor, N. L., Voß, U., Ware, A., Janes, G., Barrack, D., Bishopp, A., Bennett, M. J., Geisler, M., Wells, D. M., & Band, L. R. (2022). Systems approaches reveal that ABCB and PIN proteins mediate co-dependent auxin efflux. Plant Cell, 34(6), 2309–2327. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac086

Members of the B family of membrane-bound ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters represent key components of the auxin-efflux machinery in plants. Over the last two decades experimental studies have shown that modifying ABCB expression affects auxin... Read More about Systems approaches reveal that ABCB and PIN proteins mediate co-dependent auxin efflux.

Identification of QTL and underlying genes for root system architecture associated with nitrate nutrition in hexaploid wheat (2022)
Journal Article
GRIFFITHS, M., ATKINSON, J. A., Gardiner, L. J., SWARUP, R., POUND, M. P., WILSON, M. H., BENNETT, M. J., & WELLS, D. M. (2022). Identification of QTL and underlying genes for root system architecture associated with nitrate nutrition in hexaploid wheat. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 21(4), 917-932. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2095-3119%2821%2963700-0

The root system architecture (RSA) of a crop has a profound effect on the uptake of nutrients and consequently the potential yield. However, little is known about the genetic basis of RSA and resource adaptive responses in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.... Read More about Identification of QTL and underlying genes for root system architecture associated with nitrate nutrition in hexaploid wheat.

X-ray CT reveals 4D root system development and lateral root responses to nitrate in soil (2022)
Journal Article
Griffiths, M., Mellor, N., Sturrock, C. J., Atkinson, B. S., Johnson, J., Mairhofer, S., York, L. M., Atkinson, J. A., Soltaninejad, M., Foulkes, J. F., Pound, M. P., Mooney, S. J., Pridmore, T. P., Bennett, M. J., & Wells, D. M. (2022). X-ray CT reveals 4D root system development and lateral root responses to nitrate in soil. Plant Phenome Journal, 5(1), Article e20036. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppj2.20036

The spatial arrangement of the root system, termed root system architecture, is important for resource acquisition as it directly affects the soil zone explored. Methods for phenotyping roots are mostly destructive, which prevents analysis of roots o... Read More about X-ray CT reveals 4D root system development and lateral root responses to nitrate in soil.

Integrated root phenotypes for improved rice performance under low nitrogen availability (2022)
Journal Article
Ajmera, I., Henry, A., Radanielson, A. M., Klein, S. P., Ianevski, A., Bennett, M. J., Band, L. R., & Lynch, J. P. (2022). Integrated root phenotypes for improved rice performance under low nitrogen availability. Plant, Cell and Environment, 45(3), 805-822. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.14284

Greater nitrogen efficiency would substantially reduce the economic, energy and environmental costs of rice production. We hypothesized that synergistic balancing of the costs and benefits for soil exploration among root architectural phenes is benef... Read More about Integrated root phenotypes for improved rice performance under low nitrogen availability.

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.

Tuberculosis in badgers where the bovine tuberculosis epidemic is expanding in cattle in England (2021)
Journal Article
Swift, B. M. C., Barron, E. S., Christley, R., Corbetta, D., Grau-Roma, L., Jewell, C., O’Cathail, C., Mitchell, A., Phoenix, J., Prosser, A., Rees, C., Sorley, M., Verin, R., & Bennett, M. (2021). Tuberculosis in badgers where the bovine tuberculosis epidemic is expanding in cattle in England. Scientific Reports, 11, Article 20995. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00473-6

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important animal health and economic problem for the cattle industry and a potential zoonotic threat. Wild badgers (Meles meles) play a role on its epidemiology in some areas of high prevalence in cattle, particularly... Read More about Tuberculosis in badgers where the bovine tuberculosis epidemic is expanding in cattle in England.

Soil penetration by maize roots is negatively related to ethylene-induced thickening (2021)
Journal Article
Vanhees, D. J., Schneider, H. M., Sidhu, J. S., Loades, K. W., Bengough, A. G., Bennett, M. J., Pandey, B. K., Brown, K. M., Mooney, S. J., & Lynch, J. P. (2021). Soil penetration by maize roots is negatively related to ethylene-induced thickening. Plant, Cell and Environment, https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.14175

Radial expansion is a classic response of roots to a mechanical impedance that has generally been assumed to aid penetration. We analysed the response of maize nodal roots to impedance to test the hypothesis that radial expansion is not related to th... Read More about Soil penetration by maize roots is negatively related to ethylene-induced thickening.

Non-invasive hydrodynamic imaging in plant roots at cellular resolution (2021)
Journal Article
Pascut, F. C., Couvreur, V., Dietrich, D., Leftley, N., Reyt, G., Boursiac, Y., Calvo-Polanco, M., Casimiro, I., Maurel, C., Salt, D. E., Draye, X., Wells, D. M., Bennett, M. J., & Webb, K. F. (2021). Non-invasive hydrodynamic imaging in plant roots at cellular resolution. Nature Communications, 12, Article 4682. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24913-z

A key impediment to studying water-related mechanisms in plants is the inability to non-invasively image water fluxes in cells at high temporal and spatial resolution. Here, we report that Raman microspectroscopy, complemented by hydrodynamic modelli... Read More about Non-invasive hydrodynamic imaging in plant roots at cellular resolution.

Root angle in maize influences nitrogen capture and is regulated by calcineurin B-like protein (CBL)-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 15 (ZmCIPK15) (2021)
Journal Article
Schneider, H. M., Lor, V. S. N., Hanlon, M. T., Perkins, A., Kaeppler, S. M., Borkar, A. N., Bhosale, R., Zhang, X., Rodriguez, J., Bucksch, A., Bennett, M. J., Brown, K. M., & Lynch, J. P. (2022). Root angle in maize influences nitrogen capture and is regulated by calcineurin B-like protein (CBL)-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 15 (ZmCIPK15). Plant, Cell and Environment, 45(3), 837-853. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.14135

Crops with reduced nutrient and water requirements are urgently needed in global agriculture. Root growth angle plays an important role in nutrient and water acquisition. A maize diversity panel of 481 genotypes was screened for variation in root ang... Read More about Root angle in maize influences nitrogen capture and is regulated by calcineurin B-like protein (CBL)-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 15 (ZmCIPK15).

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.

Plant roots sense soil compaction through restricted ethylene diffusion (2021)
Journal Article
Pandey, B. K., Huang, G., Bhosale, R., Hartman, S., Sturrock, C. J., Jose, L., Martin, O. C., Karady, M., Voesenek, L. A. C. J., Ljung, K., Lynch, J. P., Brown, K. M., Whalley, W. R., Mooney, S. J., Zhang, D., & Bennett, M. J. (2021). Plant roots sense soil compaction through restricted ethylene diffusion. Science, 371(6526), 276-280. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf3013

© 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved. Soil compaction represents a major challenge for modern agriculture. Compaction is intuitively thought to reduce root growth by limiting the ability of roots to penetrate harder soils. We report that root gro... Read More about Plant roots sense soil compaction through restricted ethylene diffusion.