An Open And Shut Case

粮食安全是一个日益严重的全球问题，尤其是气候变化正在导致降雨模式变得更加反复无常，影响到雨水灌溉的作物。植物根系对减轻瞬时水分胁迫的影响起着至关重要的作用。例如，当根与湿润的土壤失去联系时，它们就会停止分枝，这种机制被称为旱作。因此，了解根系如何应对短暂的水分胁迫，对农业和作物的未来发展至关重要。这项研究项目将调查旱作是如何工作的，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”根部感觉到水分供应的丧失和停止分枝之间的差距。为了帮助我们的研究，我们开发了一种全新的方法来成像水分在植物细胞之间的移动，这将有助于理解当根暴露在水分胁迫下时会发生什么。我们还发现，脱落酸和生长素等植物激素信号对旱作很重要。几个有希望的过程将被描述，包括一个打开和关闭根细胞之间的毛孔以使激素信号移动和调节根分枝的过程。从这项研究中获得的知识将提供关于控制根分枝的关键基因和过程的新信息，以响应水分的可获得性，帮助科学家设计新的方法来操纵根构型，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.