Drought activates MYB41 orthologs and induces suberization of grapevine fine roots.

The permeability of roots to water and nutrients is controlled through a variety of mechanisms and one of the most conspicuous is the presence of the Casparian strips and suberin lamellae. Roots actively regulate the creation of these structures developmentally, along the length of the root, and in response to the environment, including drought. In the current study, we characterized the suberin composition along the length of grapevine fine roots during development and in response to water deficit, and in the same root systems we quantified changes in expression of suberin biosynthesis- and deposition-related gene families (via RNAseq) allowing the identification of drought-responsive suberin-related genes.