Trehalose-6-phosphate signaling regulates lateral root formation in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Plant roots explore the soil for water and nutrients, thereby determining plant fitness and agricultural yield, as well as determining ground substructure, water levels, and global carbon sequestration. The colonization of the soil requires investment of carbon and energy, but how sugar and energy signaling are integrated with root branching is unknown. Here, we show through combined genetic and chemical modulation of signaling pathways that the sugar small-molecule signal, trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) regulates root branching through master kinases SNF1-related kinase-1 (SnRK1) and Target of Rapamycin (TOR) and with the involvement of the plant hormone auxin.

GOLVEN peptides regulate lateral root spacing as part of a negative feedback loop on the establishment of auxin maxima.

Lateral root initiation requires the accumulation of auxin in lateral root founder cells, yielding a local auxin maximum. The positioning of auxin maxima along the primary root determines the density and spacing of lateral roots. The GOLVEN6 (GLV6) and GLV10 signaling peptides and their receptors have been established as regulators of lateral root spacing via their inhibitory effect on lateral root initiation in Arabidopsis.

Dynamic GOLVEN-ROOT GROWTH FACTOR 1 INSENSITIVE signaling in the root cap mediates root gravitropism.

Throughout the exploration of the soil, roots interact with their environment and adapt to different conditions. Directional root growth is guided by asymmetric molecular patterns but how these become established or are dynamically regulated is poorly understood. Asymmetric gradients of the phytohormone auxin are established during root gravitropism, mainly through directional transport mediated by polarized auxin transporters.

The Phloem Intercalated With Xylem-Correlated 3 Receptor-Like Kinase Constitutively Interacts With Brassinosteroid Insensitive 1-Associated Receptor Kinase 1 and Is Involved in Vascular Development in .

Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs) play fundamental roles in cell-to-cell and plant-environment communication. LRR-RLKs can function as receptors perceiving endogenous or external ligands, or as coreceptors, which stabilize the complex, and enhance transduction of the intracellular signal. The LRR-RLK BAK1 is a coreceptor for different developmental and immunity pathways.

Two phylogenetically unrelated peptide-receptor modules jointly regulate lateral root initiation via a partially shared signaling pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Peptide-receptor signaling is an important system for intercellular communication, regulating many developmental processes. A single process can be controlled by several distinct signaling peptides. However, since peptide-receptor modules are usually studied separately, their mechanistic interactions remain largely unexplored.

GOLVEN peptide signalling through RGI receptors and MPK6 restricts asymmetric cell division during lateral root initiation.

During lateral root initiation, lateral root founder cells undergo asymmetric cell divisions that generate daughter cells with different sizes and fates, a prerequisite for correct primordium organogenesis. An excess of the GLV6/RGF8 peptide disrupts these initial asymmetric cell divisions, resulting in more symmetric divisions and the failure to achieve lateral root organogenesis. Here, we show that loss-of-function GLV6 and its homologue GLV10 increase asymmetric cell divisions during lateral root initiation, and we identified three members of the RGF1 INSENSITIVE/RGF1 receptor subfamily as likely GLV receptors in this process.

Peptide-Receptor Signaling Controls Lateral Root Development.

Lateral root development progresses through different steps with, the peptides and receptors involved in each of these steps triggering downstream mechanisms upon peptide perception.

CRISPR-TSKO: A Technique for Efficient Mutagenesis in Specific Cell Types, Tissues, or Organs in Arabidopsis.

Detailed functional analyses of many fundamentally important plant genes via conventional loss-of-function approaches are impeded by the severe pleiotropic phenotypes resulting from these losses. In particular, mutations in genes that are required for basic cellular functions and/or reproduction often interfere with the generation of homozygous mutant plants, precluding further functional studies. To overcome this limitation, we devised a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based tissue-specific knockout system, CRISPR-TSKO, enabling the generation of somatic mutations in particular plant cell types, tissues, and organs.