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Simonetti V, Ravazzolo L, Ruperti B, Quaggiotti S, Castiello U. A system for the study of roots 3D kinematics in hydroponic culture: a study on the oscillatory features of root tip. PLANT METHODS 2024; 20:50. [PMID: 38561757 PMCID: PMC10983651 DOI: 10.1186/s13007-024-01178-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The root of a plant is a fundamental organ for the multisensory perception of the environment. Investigating root growth dynamics as a mean of their interaction with the environment is of key importance for improving knowledge in plant behaviour, plant biology and agriculture. To date, it is difficult to study roots movements from a dynamic perspective given that available technologies for root imaging focus mostly on static characterizations, lacking temporal and three-dimensional (3D) spatial information. This paper describes a new system based on time-lapse for the 3D reconstruction and analysis of roots growing in hydroponics. RESULTS The system is based on infrared stereo-cameras acquiring time-lapse images of the roots for 3D reconstruction. The acquisition protocol guarantees the root growth in complete dark while the upper part of the plant grows in normal light conditions. The system extracts the 3D trajectory of the root tip and a set of descriptive features in both the temporal and frequency domains. The system has been used on Zea mays L. (B73) during the first week of growth and shows good inter-reliability between operators with an Intra Class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) > 0.9 for all features extracted. It also showed measurement accuracy with a median difference of < 1 mm between computed and manually measured root length. CONCLUSIONS The system and the protocol presented in this study enable accurate 3D analysis of primary root growth in hydroponics. It can serve as a valuable tool for analysing real-time root responses to environmental stimuli thus improving knowledge on the processes contributing to roots physiological and phenotypic plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Laura Ravazzolo
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, Agripolis, Italy
| | - Benedetto Ruperti
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, Agripolis, Italy
| | - Silvia Quaggiotti
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, Agripolis, Italy
| | - Umberto Castiello
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Vázquez KRJ, López-Hernández J, García-Cárdenas E, Pelagio-Flores R, López-Bucio JS, Téxon AC, Ibarra-Laclette E, López-Bucio J. The plant growth promoting rhizobacterium Achromobacter sp. 5B1, rescues Arabidopsis seedlings from alkaline stress by enhancing root organogenesis and hormonal responses. Microbiol Res 2024; 281:127594. [PMID: 38211416 DOI: 10.1016/j.micres.2023.127594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024]
Abstract
Soil alkalinity is a critical environmental factor for plant growth and distribution in ecosystems. An alkaline condition (pH > 7) is imposed by the rising concentration of hydroxides and cations, and prevails in semiarid and arid environments, which represent more than 25% of the total arable land of the world. Despite the great pressure exerted by alkalinity for root viability and plant survival, scarce information is available to understand how root microbes contribute to alkaline pH adaptation. Here, we assessed the effects of alkalinity on shoot and root biomass production, chlorophyll content, root growth and branching, lateral root primordia formation, and the expression of CYCB1, TOR kinase, and auxin and cytokinin-inducible trangenes in shoots and roots of Arabidopsis seedlings grown in Petri plates with agar-nutrient medium at pH values of 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0. The results showed an inverse correlation between the rise of pH and most growth, hormonal and genetic traits analyzed. Noteworthy, root inoculation with Achromobacter sp. 5B1, a beneficial rhizospheric bacterium, with plant growth promoting and salt tolerance features, increased biomass production, restored root growth and branching and enhanced auxin responses in WT seedlings and auxin-related mutants aux1-7 and eir1, indicating that stress adaptation operates independently of canonical auxin transporter proteins. Sequencing of the Achromobacter sp. 5B1 genome unveiled 5244 protein-coding genes, including genes possibly involved in auxin biosynthesis, quorum-sensing regulation and stress adaptation, which may account for its plant growth promotion attributes. These data highlight the critical role of rhizobacteria to increase plant resilience under high soil pH conditions potentially through genes for adaptation to an extreme environment and bacteria-plant communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirán Rubí Jiménez Vázquez
- Instituto de Investigaciones Químico-Biológicas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Edificio B3, Ciudad Universitaria, C. P., 58030 Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
| | - José López-Hernández
- Instituto de Investigaciones Químico-Biológicas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Edificio B3, Ciudad Universitaria, C. P., 58030 Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
| | - Elizabeth García-Cárdenas
- Instituto de Investigaciones Químico-Biológicas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Edificio B3, Ciudad Universitaria, C. P., 58030 Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
| | - Ramón Pelagio-Flores
- Facultad de Químico Farmacobiología, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Avenida Tzintzuntzan 173; Col. Matamoros, 58240 Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
| | - Jesús Salvador López-Bucio
- Catedrático CONACYT-Instituto de Investigaciones Químico-Biológicas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Edificio B3, Ciudad Universitaria, C. P., 58030 Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
| | - Anahí Canedo Téxon
- Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Carretera Antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, C.P. 91070, Xalapa, Ver, Mexico; Departamento de la Conservación de la Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur., Carretera Villahermosa-Reforma Km 15.5, Ranchería el Guineo, Sección II C.P., 86280 Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico
| | - Enrique Ibarra-Laclette
- Red de Estudios Moleculares Avanzados, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Carretera Antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, C.P. 91070, Xalapa, Ver, Mexico
| | - José López-Bucio
- Instituto de Investigaciones Químico-Biológicas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Edificio B3, Ciudad Universitaria, C. P., 58030 Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico.
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Baluška F, Mancuso S. Individuality, self and sociality of vascular plants. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20190760. [PMID: 33550947 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Vascular plants are integrated into coherent bodies via plant-specific synaptic adhesion domains, action potentials (APs) and other means of long-distance signalling running throughout the plant bodies. Plant-specific synapses and APs are proposed to allow plants to generate their self identities having unique ways of sensing and acting as agents with their own goals guiding their future activities. Plants move their organs with a purpose and with obvious awareness of their surroundings and require APs to perform and control these movements. Self-identities allow vascular plants to act as individuals enjoying sociality via their self/non-self-recognition and kin recognition. Flowering plants emerge as cognitive and intelligent organisms when the major strategy is to attract and control their animal pollinators as well as seed dispersers by providing them with food enriched with nutritive and manipulative/addictive compounds. Their goal in interactions with animals is manipulation for reproduction, dispersal and defence. This article is part of the theme issue 'Basal cognition: multicellularity, neurons and the cognitive lens'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stefano Mancuso
- Department of Agrifood Production and Environmental Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
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Lee HJ, Kim HS, Park JM, Cho HS, Jeon JH. PIN-mediated polar auxin transport facilitates root-obstacle avoidance. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2020; 225:1285-1296. [PMID: 31336402 DOI: 10.1111/nph.16076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 07/18/2019] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Plants sense mechanical stimuli to recognise nearby obstacles and change their growth patterns to adapt to the surrounding environment. When roots encounter an obstacle, they rapidly bend away from the impenetrable surface and find the edge of the barrier. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying root-obstacle avoidance are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that PIN-FORMED (PIN)-mediated polar auxin transport facilitates root bending during obstacle avoidance. We analysed two types of bending after roots touched barriers. In auxin receptor mutants, the rate of root movement during first bending was largely delayed. Gravity-oriented second bending was also disturbed in these mutants. The reporter assays showed that asymmetrical auxin responses occurred in the roots during obstacle avoidance. Pharmacological analysis suggested that polar auxin transport mediates local auxin accumulation. We found that PINs are required for auxin-assisted root bending during obstacle avoidance. We propose that rapid root movement during obstacle avoidance is not just a passive but an active bending completed through polar auxin transport. Our findings suggest that auxin plays a role in thigmotropism during plant-obstacle interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyo-Jun Lee
- Plant Systems Engineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, 34141, Korea
- Department of Functional Genomics, KRIBB School of Bioscience, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34113, Korea
| | - Hyun-Soon Kim
- Plant Systems Engineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, 34141, Korea
| | - Jeong Mee Park
- Plant Systems Engineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, 34141, Korea
- Department of Biosystems and Bioengineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34113, Korea
| | - Hye Sun Cho
- Plant Systems Engineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, 34141, Korea
- Department of Biosystems and Bioengineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34113, Korea
| | - Jae Heung Jeon
- Plant Systems Engineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, 34141, Korea
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Segundo-Ortin M, Calvo P. Are plants cognitive? A reply to Adams. STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 2019; 73:64-71. [PMID: 30914125 DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsa.2018.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2018] [Revised: 11/16/2018] [Accepted: 12/05/2018] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
According to F. Adams [this journal, vol. 68, 2018] cognition cannot be realized in plants or bacteria. In his view, plants and bacteria respond to the here-and-now in a hardwired, inflexible manner, and are therefore incapable of cognitive activity. This article takes issue with the pursuit of plant cognition from the perspective of an empirically informed philosophy of plant neurobiology. As we argue, empirical evidence shows, contra Adams, that plant behavior is in many ways analogous to animal behavior. This renders plants suitable to be described as cognitive agents in a non-metaphorical way. Sections two to four review the arguments offered by Adams in light of scientific evidence on plant adaptive behavior, decision-making, anticipation, as well as learning and memory. Section five introduces the 'phyto-nervous' system of plants. To conclude, section six resituates the quest for plant cognition into a broader approach in cognitive science, as represented by enactive and ecological schools of thought. Overall, we aim to motivate the idea that plants may be considered genuine cognitive agents. Our hope is to help propel public awareness and discussion of plant intelligence once appropriately stripped of anthropocentric preconceptions of the sort that Adams' position appears to exemplify.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Paco Calvo
- Minimal Intelligence Lab (MINT Lab), Universidad de Murcia, Spain.
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