Asymmetric auxin distribution establishes a contrasting pattern of aerenchyma formation in the nodal roots of during gravistimulation.

Auxin distribution is essential for determining root developmental patterns. The formation of lateral roots and constitutive aerenchyma, which is a gas space developed through cell death, is regulated by auxin in rice (). However, it is unclear whether the involvement of auxin in constitutive aerenchyma formation is conserved in other species.

Lateral roots, in addition to adventitious roots, form a barrier to radial oxygen loss in Zea nicaraguensis and a chromosome segment introgression line in maize.

Plants typically respond to waterlogging by producing new adventitious roots with aerenchyma and many wetland plants form a root barrier to radial O loss (ROL), but it was not known if this was also the case for lateral roots. We tested the hypothesis that lateral roots arising from adventitious roots can form a ROL barrier, using root-sleeving electrodes and O microsensors to assess ROL of Zea nicaraguensis, the maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) introgression line with a locus for ROL barrier formation (introgression line (IL) #468) from Z.

QTLs for constitutive aerenchyma from Zea nicaraguensis improve tolerance of maize to root-zone oxygen deficiency.

Zea nicaraguensis is a wild relative of Zea mays subsp. mays (maize) that has high waterlogging tolerance. One of its traits is constitutive aerenchyma formation (CAF) in roots and this may be one of the reasons for the tolerance, but it has not yet been proven by comparing plants that differ only in CAF in the same genetic background.

A major locus involved in the formation of the radial oxygen loss barrier in adventitious roots of teosinte Zea nicaraguensis is located on the short-arm of chromosome 3.

A radial oxygen loss (ROL) barrier in roots of waterlogging-tolerant plants promotes oxygen movement via aerenchyma to the root tip, and impedes soil phytotoxin entry. The molecular mechanism and genetic regulation of ROL barrier formation are largely unknown. Zea nicaraguensis, a waterlogging-tolerant wild relative of maize (Zea mays ssp.