An Open And Shut Case

粮食安全是一个日益严重的全球性问题，特别是气候变化导致降雨模式变得更加不稳定，影响到靠雨水灌溉的作物。植物根系在缓解瞬时水分胁迫的影响方面起着至关重要的作用。例如，当根系失去与潮湿土壤的接触时，它们就会停止分枝，这是一种叫做旱生分枝的机制。因此，发现根系如何应对短暂的水分胁迫对农业和“未来的证明”作物至关重要。该研究项目将调查旱生枝是如何工作的，以确保只有在有水可用的情况下才能形成新的根枝。我们的研究项目试图“填补”根系之间的差距，感知水的可用性损失，然后停止分支。为了帮助我们的研究，我们开发了一种全新的方法来成像植物细胞之间的水移动，这将有助于了解当根部暴露于水分胁迫时会发生什么。我们还确定了植物激素信号，如脱落酸和生长素是重要的旱生枝。几个有希望的过程将被表征，包括一个打开和关闭根细胞之间的孔，使激素信号移动和调节根分支。从这项研究中获得的知识将提供有关控制根分支的关键基因和过程的新信息，以响应水的可用性，帮助科学家设计新的方法来操纵根结构，以提高作物的资源捕获和产量。

Food security represents an increasing global issue particularly as climate change, which is causing rainfall patterns to become much more erratic, impacts rain-fed crops. Plant roots play a critical role to reduce the impact of transient water stress. For example, roots cease branching when they lose contact with moist soil employing a mechanism called Xerobranching. Discovering how roots respond to transient water stress is therefore of vital importance for agriculture and 'future proofing' crops. This research project will investigate how Xerobranching works to ensure new root branches only form when there is water available. Our research project attempts to 'fill in the gaps' between roots sensing the loss of water availability and then ceasing branching. To help our studies, we have developed an entirely new way to image water moving between plant cells, which will be instrumental for understanding what happens when roots are exposed to water stress. We have also identified plant hormone signals such as abscisic acid and auxin are important for Xerobranching. Several promising processes will be characterised including one that opens and shuts pores between root cells to enable hormone signals to move and regulate root branching. The knowledge gained from this study will provide new information about the key genes and processes controlling root branching in response to water availability, helping scientists design novel approaches to manipulate root architecture to enhance resource capture and yield in crops.