Part I, Non-technical: Roots are vital for crop health and productivity because they provide water and nutrient uptake, and stability in the soil. Understanding how they function is critical to a sustainable food supply. At the tip of the root is the root cap, a tissue that helps guide the root through soil and protects the root from soil stresses. Cells of the root cap are continually produced and released into the surrounding soil. Released cells help repel pathogenic microbes from the root and are an important part of plant defense. The features governing root cap cell release are currently unknown. This knowledge is necessary to fully understand root function and to develop plants with increased productivity. This project will use the model plant Arabidopsis to identify the essential genes and characteristics that govern root cap cell release. It will provide training to undergraduates, graduate students and a postdoctoral scientist and will engage the local community in plant root biology. The knowledge generated will enhance our ability to develop plants with increased productivity.
Part II, Technical: Roots are pivotal to plant health and crop productivity. The root cap provides essential functions for the whole root, and is critical to root growth and health. Root cap functionality is dependent on a stable root cap size. In the columella root cap, located at the tip of the root, size is maintained by a balance between root cap cell release and columella cell production. The mechanism underlying root cap cell release is not well understood, yet this process has crucial implications for root protection from environmental stress. This project will identify the mechanism through which the transcription factor, NIN-LIKE PROTEIN 7 (NLP7), controls root cap cell release and will identify additional regulators of root cap development in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The project's research goals are to: 1) determine how the subcellular and tissue localization of NLP7 alters root cap cell release and 2) identify NLP7-regulated genes and networks that function in root cap cell release. This work will be instrumental for understanding the genes that govern root cap development and will lead to crops with enhanced growth and productivity, especially in environments with pathogenic soil microbes. This project will train a postdoctoral student, graduate student and undergraduates. Outreach will be targeted toward the local community to increase their knowledge and engagement of plant science through summer workshops that focus on understanding plant root biology and its importance to crop productivity.
