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Changing root system architecture through inhibition of putrescine and feruloyl putrescine accumulation
Author(s) -
Ben-Hayyim Gozal,
Damon Jean-Pierre,
Martin-Tanguy Josette,
Tepfer D.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(94)80489-3
Subject(s) - root system , botany , hairy root culture , photosynthesis , taproot , putrescine , biology , root hair , elongation , chemistry , agrobacterium , transformation (genetics) , biochemistry , gene , materials science , ultimate tensile strength , metallurgy , enzyme
Plant roots provide anchorage and absorb the water and minerals necessary for photosynthesis in the aerial parts of the plant. Since plants are sessile organisms, their root systems must forage for resources in heterogeneous soils through differential branching and elongation [(1988) Funct. Ecol. 2, 345‐351; (1991) Plant Roots: The Hidden Half, pp. 3‐25, Marcel Dekker, NY]. Adaptation to drought, for instance, can be facilitated by increased root growth and penetration. Root systems thus develop as a function of environmental variables and the needs of the plant [(1988) Funct. Ecol. 2, 345‐351; (1986) Bot. Gaz. 147, 137‐147; (1991) Plant Roots: The Hidden Half, pp. 309‐330, Marcel Dekker, NY], We show, in a model system consisting of excised tobacco roots, that both α‐ dl ‐difluoromethylornithine (an inhibitor of putrescine biosynthesis) and the rolA gene (from the root‐inducing transferred DNA of Agrobacterium rhizogenes ) stimulate overall root growth and cause a conversion in the pattern of root system formation, producing a dominant or ‘tap’ root. These morphological changes are correlated with a depression in the accumulation of polyamines and their conjugates.